Air Force Responsible for Infant's Cerebral Palsy : by Lynn Fugaro
Although law does not permit military personnel to sue the federal government for medical malpractice, the federal government can be found legally responsible for medical malpractice suffered by a civilian. In May 2007, the federal government was ordered to pay $24.5 million to a family providing what a judge determined to be substandard care given by Air Force medical providers in the 2003 delivery of an Illinois Scott Air Force Base couple's son. The baby's birth injuries resulted in cerebral palsy.
According to the judge's decision, Air Force medical providers allowed military rank to interfere in the mother's care. Thirty-seven-year-old Evelyn Tremain had had a Caesarean section performed prior to the delivery of Toby Tremain and was told that this delivery could be complicated. The couple's obstetrician, Dr. John Smith, told the couple that a midwife delivery was not appropriate, but Evelyn got one anyway. The midwife who performed the delivery, Lt. Col. Shari Stone-Ulrich, practiced at St. Elizabeth's Belleville, Illinois, but she was required to be supervised by a physician at all times and was limited to uncomplicated deliveries.
At the time of the Tremain's delivery, Stone-Ulrich was a major and was superior in rank to Dr. Smith, who was a captain. Prior to Toby's delivery, there were indications that his heart rate was not normal; however, officials still deferred to the midwife because she was a higher rank. In mid-delivery, Dr. Smith was finally called in and performed surgery as the baby had been half extruded from the mother's uterus and into her abdominal cavity. The child, not moving and blue, was transported to a nearby children's hospital.
The judge said that since the now four-year-old boy will never live a normal life and will need medical care for the rest of his life, the $24.5 million award was just.
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