Verdicts

A doctor was entitled to summary dismissal of a case against him for malpractice for actions that resulted in a birth injury because he proved that the Texas Good Samaritan statute applied to absolve him of liability. McIntyre v. Ramirez, Texas Lawyer, 7/7/03, Vol. 19; No. 18; Pg. 415, Case No. 01-1203, 6/26/03.

This medical malpractice action arose from the emergency delivery of an infant. Defendant Dr. Douglas McIntyre was not the mother's obstetrician, was not on call for her regular doctor and had never seen the mother as a patient before the day of delivery. The patient's own doctor was not present when the baby, which was large for its gestational age, was ready to be delivered. Nurses paged for a “Dr. Stork,” a code method of informing those in the hospital that a delivery is taking place without a doctor present and that a doctor is immediately needed. Dr. McIntyre responded to the page. When he arrived, there were indications of shoulder dystocia, a condition in which the infant's shoulder becomes lodged against the mother's pelvic bone. After several attempts to deliver the child, Dr. McIntyre reached inside the mother, moved the baby's arm to a new position, and delivered him. The baby was born with injuries to the soft tissues and nerves of his right upper extremity, neck and shoulder, resulting in permanent neurological impairment and partial paralysis.