$1.5 Million Settlement for Ultrasound Reading Fails to Detect Twins
- Date: Spring 1997
- Attorney: Carol Forte
- Settlement: $1.5 Million
- Practice Areas: Medical Malpractice, Labor and Delivery, Prenatal Testing, Ultrasound, Failure to Diagnose Twins, Fetal Distress, Hypoxia, Brain Damage, Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy
The technician who incorrectly performed a prenatal ultrasound of Mrs. Bratton, who was then seven months pregnant, failed to notice that she was carrying twins who shared the same amniotic fluid sac. The resulting image showed only one of the twin fetuses.
During delivery at Point Pleasant Hospital in Ocean County, the physicians and nurses in the operating room delivered the first twin but did not detect the second twin until her oxygen supply had been cut off and the infant had to be delivered by emergency C-section.
The second twin suffers mild neurological and speech problems. Blume, Goldfaden Principal Carol Forte settled the case for $ 1.5 million.