A neurology expert witness advises on mother’s claims that an IV placed during Cesarean delivery caused long-term wrist injury. Plaintiff was admitted to defendant hospital for a scheduled Cesarean delivery. Early in the morning of the delivery, an IV was placed in plaintiff’s left wrist on the first attempt. She delivered a healthy baby. Plaintiff was prescribed Venofer to treat anemia due to blood loss during delivery. She received the medication via IV twice over the next two days. She did not report any pain, and the nursing staff recorded no problems. The IV was removed a few hours before her discharge on the third day.
Plaintiff alleges she began to have symptoms of pain and burning at the IV site after the first administration of Venofer. Approximately two days after her discharge, she said she noticed pus in the area where the IV had been. She reported no problems at her two-week postpartum visit or a month later on another follow-up. Three months after delivery, she mentioned pain in her left wrist at a doctor visit.
Another four months later, plaintiff’s medical providers attributed her wrist symptoms to possible phlebitis or De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. She received steroid injections to her left wrist, which temporarily resolved her pain. She never returned for any follow-up evaluation of her left wrist or hand.
Plaintiff filed suit against the hospital, alleging that she suffers ongoing injuries relating to placement of the IV line.
