Call Center Company in Odessa, TX

An Odessa couple has filed a lawsuit against Odessa Regional Medical Center, Quorum Health Corporation and a doctor of osteopathic medicine alleging their negligence led to their baby suffering irreversible brain damage at birth.

According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Ector County District Court, Arlette Orozco went to ORH around 7:30 a.m. on June 29, 2023, because she was 36.5 weeks pregnant and had been having contractions since 3 a.m.

She told doctors she was having severe and sharp pain in her lower abdomen near the scar from when she’d had two previous cesarean sections, the lawsuit stated.

An examination revealed Orozco’s cervix was closed and the baby was moving, but pain medications were not diminishing Orozco’s pain levels, the lawsuit stated.

Orozco was admitted to the hospital around 9:20 a.m. under the care of Lori Stafford, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, and she was told she’d be scheduled for a C-section, the lawsuit stated.

According to the lawsuit, medical records show that the baby’s heart rate was fine at 10 a.m. and a nurse noted it was fine at 11:15 a.m. However, Orozco’s attorneys allege that was unlikely given her pain level.

Orozco’s attorneys said their client was still in severe pain at 11:54 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and they allege Stafford still hadn’t examined her. They further allege staff took no action to have another physician examine her.

The attorneys said records show Orozco’s C-section was scheduled for 1:20 p.m., but it didn’t happen.

According to the lawsuit, records show a nurse told Stafford again at 1:30 p.m. about Orozco’s severe pain.

“She did not evaluate her patient personally, and she did not request that another physician evaluate the patient or perform the delivery. At the same time, the nurse did not invoke the chain of command and did not contact another qualified physician,” the lawsuit stated.

Stafford simply ordered more pain medications for Orozco, the lawsuit alleged.

By 2:15 p.m., Orozco still hadn’t been assessed by a “qualified physician” and medical records note Orozco told nurses she felt like her abdomen was burning, the lawsuit stated.

At 2:35 p.m., a nurse confirmed Orozco’s cervix was still closed and sometime around 3 p.m. Stafford examined her, the lawsuit stated.

“Instead of proceeding with a STAT C-section, Dr. Stafford prepared for the C-section as if there was no urgency,” the lawsuit stated.

Orozco was given an epidural and around 3:15 p.m. a nurse contacted an in-house obstetrician because the baby’s heartbeat had slowed into the 60s and Stafford couldn’t be reached, the lawsuit stated.

That doctor did an emergency C-section, during which Orozco’s uterus ruptured, the lawsuit stated.

In addition, Orozco and Francisco Mendoza’s daughter, Adalynn, was born at 3:24 p.m. “lifeless, limp, without respiratory effort,” the lawsuit stated.

The baby was intubated and admitted to the intensive care unit where doctors determined her brain had been deprived of oxygen and blood, which causes Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy, which is irreversible, the lawsuit stated.

According to the lawsuit, Adalynn has cerebral palsy and will have developmental and cognitive delays.

She’ll require “extensive medical care, medical interventions, procedures, nursing care, monitoring, diagnostic interventions, therapies and assistance” for life, the lawsuit stated.

Orozco’s attorneys, H. Briggs Bedigian and Jon S. Stefanuca of Maryland, are alleging the hospital staff and doctor were negligent, but they also allege the hospital “intentionally and in bad faith or negligently breached it’s duty” by failing to preserve the fatal heart beat tracing.

“The hospital knew or should have known that there was a substantial chance that a claim will be filed and that the fetal heart tracing in its possession or control will be material and relevant to that claim.”

ORH has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.