A recent John Stossel report in ABC’s 20/20 points out that 76% of Las Vegas obstetricians have been sued by lawyers like John Edwards, who famously won huge awards in dubious cases:
Cerebral palsy is a central nervous system defect that makes it hard for people to control their muscles. At the time of Edwards’ cases, the defect was often said to be caused by a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain during delivery. Edwards and other lawyers have argued that if the doctor involved had only done a Caesarean section, the child’s cerebral palsy could have been prevented.
He won a record verdict in a cerebral palsy case after he told the jury he was speaking for the injured infant, in the womb. He was very convincing and the jury awarded his clients over $6 million. Scruggs told me, “Wouldn’t you want your lawyer to be just as clever and just as effective?”
One thing doctors may have learned from these kinds of cases was to do more C-sections. The procedure is more common today for many reasons, including scheduling convenience, but doctors say fear of a cerebral palsy lawsuit has had a big impact.
Since 1970 C-sections have gone from 6 percent of all births to 26 percent. “And there has not been one small decrease in the cerebral palsy rate across the board,” said Mandeville.
See ABC’s message boards for some discussion of the unusual disclaimer.
H/T Mr. Reynolds.