Methotrexate Medical Malpractice
On August 8, 2024, Kuhlman Law, LLC filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court against St. Charles Hospital located in Bend, Oregon for improperly giving a live fetus two doses of methotrexate. The birth injury case is venued in Deschutes County, Oregon.
As the lawsuit states, the mother and father of the child were excited to be pregnant and looking forward to becoming parents for the first time. Things tragically changed for the family on February 20, 2023 when the mother went into the hospital with upper abdominal pain. The mother was given an ultrasound to try and identify the source of pain. The ultrasound was of poor quality, though, and did not show a fetus in the mother’s uterus or anywhere on the ultrasound.
The lawsuit alleges that instead of getting additional testing imaging and testing, though, the obstetrician improperly jumped to the conclusion that the mother’s pregnancy was ectopic and had to be terminated because ectopic pregnancies are never viable. As such, the mother was given two (2) doses of methotrexate, a powerful drug, that is used to terminate or kill unviable pregnancies.
When the mother was getting prepared for discharge from the hospital, additional imaging was conducted and showed the fetus in the uterus, where it had been all along. This was a viable pregnancy and the fetus had been temporarily been obscured in the first sonogram by a fibroid. As such, the methotrexate should have never been given.
Miraculously, the baby survived the methotrexate administration and was still alive.
Several months later, when the baby was delivered, he had severe birth defects as a result of the methotrexate exposure. He had physical deformities including micrognathia, cleft palate, brain abnormalities, cerebral ventriculomegaly, cerebral palsy, and had abnormal hearing and vision. As a result of the medical malpractice, the baby suffered a profound birth injury and will need continual, around the clock medical care and assistance for the rest of her life.
Tragically, this all could have been avoided if the doctor had slowed down and done additional imaging instead of rushing to the wrong diagnosis.
The lawsuit seeks damages for the impact to the baby’s mental and physical damages and disfigurement. The baby will be severely developmentally delayed and will be impaired in al all activities during the duration of his life. In addition to St. Charles Health System and the obstetrician, the radiologist and radiology clinic were also sued for not conducting additional imaging and appropriately advising the OB/GYN.
Doctors should never rush to diagnosis. Generally, the decision to administer methotrexate for an ectopic pregnancy should only be made if the doctor can visualize the fetus in the mother’s fallopian tube or elsewhere located outside the uterus. If the obstetrician or radiologist cannot see a pregnancy in the uterus or anywhere else, instead of ordering methotrexate, they should conduct additional radiological imaging and monitor the mother. Often times, the fetus/egg sac can temporarily be obscured from view and simply repositioning the mother and conducting additional imaging or waiting several hours to conduct imaging will show the fetus in the uterus.
Take action today to get justice for your child
If you or someone you love has suffered a birth injury due to methotrexate medical malpractice or improper use of Misoprostal, Cyotec, Arthrotec, Mifegymiso, Jylamvo, Otrtexup, Rasuvo, Trexall, and Xatmep, immediately contact the Oregon birth injury attorneys at Kuhlman Law (541) 263-7700 for a free case evaluation.
We have the experience and track record on these cases to get you and your family the help you need. Our firm can help you get your child’s past medical bills, future medical bills, and future care needs covered. If we accept your case, we will do so on a contingency fee basis, meaning you will never owe us any legal fees unless there is a recovery. Call us today as there are statutes of limitation which can bar your case if you do not timely pursue it.
Kuhlman Law, LLC has offices in Bend, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis, Minnesota and we evaluate methotrexate birth injury cases all over the country.