$1.1 Million Verdict for Infant's Death After Richmond OB/GYN Ordered the Wrong Fetal Test
Won by Wagner Reese, LLP.
A Richmond obstetrician ordered a contraction stress test instead of the recommended non-stress evaluation as a 34-week fetus showed distress, and a Wayne County jury held him responsible for the baby's death.
What happened
In the spring of 2010, a jury in Richmond, Indiana, returned a $1.1 million verdict against a local obstetrician, Joseph M. Smith, M.D., for the death of a baby at 34 weeks gestation. The case turned on a narrow clinical decision: which test to run once a fetus begins showing signs of trouble.
As the pregnancy reached its 34th week, the fetus showed signs of distress on monitoring. Accepted practice called for a non-stress test, often paired with a biophysical profile, to assess the baby's condition. Dr. Smith instead ordered an oxytocin challenge test, also known as a contraction stress test or OCT. By the time the danger was fully recognized and an emergency cesarean section was called, it was too late, and the baby did not survive. The infant's father brought the medical malpractice claim on behalf of the child's estate.
The distinction between the two tests mattered. A non-stress test watches the fetal heart rate while the baby moves and rests, looking for the accelerations that signal a well-oxygenated baby. A contraction stress test instead provokes contractions and measures how the heart rate responds to that added strain. The plaintiff's position was that the readings called for the gentler, faster screening, not a test that stressed an already struggling baby.
The trial lasted five days in Wayne Circuit Court, before Judge David Kolger. Plaintiff attorneys Jason R. Reese and Stephen M. Wagner argued that the warning signs required the non-stress evaluation, and that choosing the contraction stress test instead fell below the standard of care. The case was tried on the monitoring record and on what a reasonable obstetrician should have done with the same readings.
The jury had three questions to resolve. First, whether Dr. Smith was negligent in ordering the OCT in place of a non-stress test. Second, whether his conduct was a cause of the death. Third, whether the baby was stillborn or born alive, a point the defense disputed.
The jurors deliberated for roughly two hours and fifteen minutes before finding for the family and fixing damages at $1.1 million. The verdict was entered on March 26, 2010. The court afterward added prejudgment interest on top of that figure. The award is believed to be the largest medical malpractice verdict ever recorded in Wayne County.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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