Lawsuit Alleges Child Sustained Brain Damage Because of Pediatrician's Group B Strep Diagnosis Delay

A pregnant woman who is a carrier of the Group b strep can pass on the bacteria to her baby during labor even when the mother does not present any symptoms. Research demonstrate that between about 25% of expecting mothers have group b strep. If there is no intervention, a child born to a woman who with GBS has a 1 in 200 possibility of developing a Group B Strep infection. By administering antibiotics during labor the likelihood of the mother passing the bacteria to her child is diminished by 2,000%.

To help figure out which expecting mothers should be administered antibiotics in the course of labor, asymptomatic pregnant women are screened for Group B Strep between the 35th and 37th week of the pregnancy. Undergoing testing for group b streptococcus is a straightforward process. Because the bacteria typically takes hold inside the urinary and vaginal tract of the mother, a swab is used to acquire a sample. The outcome of the screen are usually ready within forty-eight hours.

In case a newborn acquires a group b streptococcus infection and is not treated immediately, the infection might turn into pneumonia, sepsis or meningitis. Because a baby's immune systems is not totally developed, the newborn might be left with lifelong physical and neurological injuries that may prevent the child from ever living a normal life. And of the roughly seven thousand six hundred infants each year who become infected with GBS there is a mortality rate of 10-15%.

With the severe risk a group b strep infection presents for newborns, doctors examining a baby who has symptoms consistent with a GBS infection and whose mother tested positive during the pregnancy should incorporate it in their differential diagnosis. Examine, for instance, a reported case in which an infant, born to a woman whose GBS screening test had come back positive earlier in the pregnancy during the pregnancy, started to display signs consistent with a Group B Strep infection shortly after birth. But, the treating physician did not match the symptoms in the infant's postnatal record with the prenatal record which showed that mother had tested positive for the bacteria during the pregnancy. Hence, the proper diagnosis was came late and antibiotics were not given right away.

Because of the delay, the newborn suffered a brain injury. The law firm that represented the family described that they were able to reach a settlement on behalf of the family for $750,000 with the doctor and $3,125,000 with the hospital.

Babies can develop the group b streptococcus infection even tough antibiotics were administered to the mother in the course of labor. A recent study also showed that there are a number of babies who develop the infection even if the mother tested negative. Doctors thus should consider it as part of their differential diagnosis whenever a baby exhibits symptoms consistent with group b streptococcus. As this matter shows The failure to check the prenatal chart and to consider Group B Strep may constitute liability for medical malpractice.