New York Medical Malpractice

The problem with obstetricians leaving the field because of high medical malpractice fees has lead to a new wave of doctors: a laborist. With many OBs leaving the field, a laborist comes in right at delivery time to deliver the baby instead of being the patient’s doctor throughout the pregnancy.

Called laborists or OB hospitalists, specialists such as Kontoules are helping fill a void created by the growing number of obstetrician-gynecologists who have stopped delivering babies because of grueling on-call schedules and high malpractice insurance costs. The Boston-based ProMutual Group, the largest malpractice insurer in the state, said about 65 of the 120 obstetrician-gynecologists it insures have quit delivering babies.

For expectant mothers, who traditionally have carefully hand-picked their obstetricians to see them through pregnancy and delivery, the advent of laborists means they typically won’t meet the doctor attending the birth until they arrive at the hospital.

A Queens, New York woman is filing for medical malpractice after alleged botched deliveries by the Queens Hospital Center of not one, but two of her children. Annemarie Dhana claims that her sons were “yanked” from her during delivery, causing both of them to suffer with ERB’s palsy.

According to the lawsuit, Dhana got care for both pregnancies at Queens Hospital Center, where doctors were aware she had gestational diabetes, a serious childbirth risk factor.

The suit also claims doctors mishandled Dhana’s care from her prenatal stage all the way through the second delivery - when doctors could have prevented the injury with a Caesarean section or other measures.

A task force with a focus on medical malpractice reform recently recommended a no-fault compensation fund for babies injured at birth for New York. The task force was led by Eric Dinallo, New York Insurance Superintendent, and his task was to try to remove those types of cases from having to go to court.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ New York chapter confirmed only that the plan was under discussion. The New York State Trial Lawyers Association says it opposes the proposal because it would “hurt mothers and babies.”

The proposed plan would instead provide immediate and continuous financial help to families with babies injured during birth – something that New York attorneys are opposed to.

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