Delays in Recognizing & Treating Blood Disorder and Hemorrhage After Birth

A pregnant woman began developing a trend of worsening gestational thrombocytopenia (low blood platelets during pregnancy) which went unrecognized by her prenatal caregivers. When she was admitted to the hospital at term, her baby was still okay and was born healthy, but she was already prone to bleeding from the thrombocytopenia. In reality, she had developed a very small, concealed placental abruption (tear in the placenta) that was ongoing for some time, but then it burst loose after childbirth and she began hemorrhaging severely. She died about 6 hours later in the hospital, due to massive blood loss according to the original autopsy report. But the autopsy report was changed about 2 years later, to claim the woman had died primarily from an extremely rare condition known as an amniotic fluid embolus (AFE) instead of the blood loss. Mark Clore represented the husband and children, and alleged that delays occurred in the hospital in getting the woman blood, in large part because the hospital’s blood bank/laboratory wasted time trying to get a compatible crossmatch rather than giving universal donor blood in an emergency. The suit also alleged that although the blood transfusions were eventually given, they occurred too late in time, and that the massive hemorrhage was made worse in the meantime by the worsening of the underlying bleeding disorder. A confidential settlement in the family’s favor was reached during trial by Mark Clore.

• Practice Area
  Wrongful Death
• Attorney
  Mark D. Clore
• Outcome
  Confidential Settlement