Summary Judgment Dismissal

HPM&B recently obtained summary judgment dismissal on behalf of an attending neonatologist in a malpractice case involving profound developmental delays and encephalopathy in a newborn.  The plaintiff-mother claimed a failure to diagnose and treat her newborn son for meconium aspiration syndrome and respiratory distress syndrome.  In the Decision and Order, the Honorable Thomas Zugibe agreed with defendant’s contentions that there was an absence of any clinical basis to transfer the infant from the well-baby nursery to the NICU while he was under the care of our client.  Moreover, the court found that plaintiff’s expert opinion was entirely speculative whether any alleged delay in referring the baby to the NICU was a proximate cause of the baby’s hypoxic injury.  The Court also dismissed the plaintiff’s informed consent cause of action.