Defense Verdict in New York County

On February 20, 2008, Raphael J. Berman obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an obstetrical group charged with failing to bring the plaintiff in for an examination and sonogram to rule out retained products of conception following a postpartum bleeding episode.

Plaintiff claimed that two weeks after giving birth via vaginal delivery, she experienced a sudden bleeding episode. Four days later, she experienced a massive hemorrhagic episode, requiring an emergent sharp dilatation and curettage (D&C) followed by a bilateral uterine artery embolization procedure (UAE) which successfully stopped the bleeding. Following the operative procedures, the plaintiff became amenorrheic (absence of periods) and was diagnosed with having Asherman’s Syndrome (scarring of the uterus) as a result of the D&C procedure.

After deliberation for two hours, the jury found that defendant did not depart from accepted medical practice in failing to arrange for the plaintiff to be seen by a physician for a sonogram at the time of the initial bleeding episode. The defense introduced expert testimony that a bleeding episode that occurred two weeks after her discharge was a normal postpartum event that did not require immediate medical attention.