A Client's Story

The doctors and nurses who took care of me while I was in labor with my son, caused my son and our entire family a lifetime of problems. You see, they failed to pay attention to the warnings the fetal monitor strip was giving them and, as a result, my son was very ill when he was born. He has Cerebral Palsy and will have it for the rest of his life.

My name is Rachel B. and I delivered my son in a hospital in St. Louis County. I am a nurse, myself, and felt that I would get the best of care. Unfortunately, throughout the night before he was born, the fetal monitor strip showed clear warning signs that he was having difficulty and that a Cesarean Section should be performed. The nurse never called the doctor to tell him about that. When the doctor did finally arrive, it took him a long time to decide what to do, even though the fetal monitor strip showed that my son was dying. They finally performed an emergency Cesarean Section, but at that time it was too late, my son’s brain was damaged. My son was severely injured because of the negligence of these health care providers.

As you can guess, I was devastated when the doctors told me that my son had “Hypoxic ischemic Encephalopathy”. I knew what that meant because of my medical training. It is basically a fancy word for Cerebral Palsy. I was a single mother and did not know where to turn. I called Terry Crouppen to ask him if he could help. He said that Brown & Crouppen would help in any way they could.

When I first met with the lawyers at Brown & Crouppen I could tell that they knew what they were talking about with regard to the medical care, or lack of it, that I had been provided. They immediately went to work in obtaining all of the medical records from my labor and delivery as well as all of the records of the treating doctors who had provided care to my son. They hired expert witnesses to evaluate my son and also to testify against the negligent nurses and doctors who had caused my son’s injury. They pursued the law suit until the doctors’ and nurses’ insurance companies approached them and said, “Let’s talk settlement.”

All of the money in the world will not change the terrible harm done to my son. But at least, with the help of the lawyers at Brown & Crouppen, I know that my son’s future needs will be taken care of financially. The lawyers made sure that the money that they obtained from the insurance company went into a trust that will be there to take care of my son even if I am unable to do so.

Working in the healthcare field, I have frequently heard co-employees make negative remarks about trial lawyers. I can only say that I am glad I had trial lawyers to help me when I needed help the most. I am glad I made that call to Terry Crouppen. My son deserved nothing less.

Rachel B.