Q: Can maternal drug use exclude a mother from being able to sue a doctor for her baby suffering from a birth injury?
My baby was born with no heartbeat and she wasn't breathing. She had to go through the cooling process, was in the NICU for over 2 months and has been diagnosed with moderate HIE. I was on methadone during my pregnancy, and also had some fentanyl in my system as well as the baby. The doctors did not perform my c section within a timely manner, and I had to refuse to push any longer and demand the c section.
A: In a word, yes. It would depend on whether it's more likely than not that your illegal drug use caused the problem with the birth. This would depend upon which expert witnesses, your witness or the doctor's, that the judge or jury believes.
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