Lawsuit claims baby's brain damage caused by negligence at HSC

A Winnipeg couple has launched a lawsuit against the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, claiming several staff members, including doctors and nurses, were negligent, which led to their baby boy sustaining severe brain damage.

The pregnant mother was seen by a doctor and discharged from Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre (HSC) more than a dozen times over the course of two weeks in 2011, court documents state.

She was first scheduled to be induced on Feb. 22, 2011, but the appointment was cancelled because HSC was too busy, the documents say. The mother then returned to the hospital every day for a week. Each day, drugs were administered to trigger labour, but the medication failed and she was discharged, the documents state.

The mother was then told the hospital would admit her on March 2, but the appointment was cancelled "due to an increased number of inductions on the unit," state the court documents.

A second attempt on March 5 to deliver the baby was called off because there were 10 inductions scheduled. 

On March 6, the woman was again admitted to hospital and the process for inducing labour was started, but it was stopped more than 12 hours later. It's not clear why that attempt was halted, but the mother was again sent home, state the court documents. 

The pregnant woman returned to the hospital March 9 after noticing the baby was not moving as much as usual, said the documents. A caesarian section was ordered after another round of labour-inducing drugs did not work. 

The baby boy was not breathing when he was born and no heart rate was detected. He was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he experienced seizures.

The boy was discharged from hospital on March 22, 2011, and is permanently disabled, court documents state. He suffers from brain damage due to lack of oxygen, severe cerebral palsy and seizures. 

The couple, in the suit, claim the hospital and its staff were incompetent.

Along with delays in care and the unit being too busy, the lawsuit claims the hospital didn't have the proper communication protocols, staff didn't keep adequate notes, specialists were not consulted, and the mother was not advised of available treatment options.

The statement of claim was filed recently in Court of Queen's Bench in Winnipeg.

A statement of defence has not been submitted and none of the allegations have been proven in court.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said in a statement the claim has been passed on to their insurer.