Pitocin Overdose Birth Injury Lawsuit

This page is about birth injury lawsuits that involve the overdose or misuse of Pitocin during the birth injury process.  Our lawyers talk about the mistakes doctors and nurses make that lead to HIE, cerebral palsy, and other birth injuries, and we look at settlement amounts and jury payouts in these cases in 2024.

If you have a potential lawsuit, reach out to us and we can talk to you about your options for compensation.  Call today at 800-553-8082 and speak with a birth injury medical malpractice attorney or get an online case evaluation.

What is Pitocin Used For?

Pitocin is basically an artificial version of a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin is the hormone that a woman’s body releases at the end of pregnancy to stimulate contractions in the uterus muscles and begin the childbirth process. When Pitocin is administered into a woman’s bloodstream, it triggers uterine muscle contractions the same way as the natural hormone does.

OB/GYNs use Pitocin for two primary purposes: (1) to induce labor when a woman is long past her due date, and (2) to rapidly accelerate labor when things are not progressing fast enough. Pitocin is administered intravenously through an IV device that automatically dispenses a set dose of the drug as directed by the doctor. Pitocin is the most widely used method of accelerating labor.

Risks of Pitocin

Pitocin is unquestionably a beneficial drug. It helps speed delivery and avoid the risk of infections and other complications. Pitocin does have some inherent risks, however, because it can sometimes overstimulate the uterus muscles. If uterine contractions are too strong and/or too frequent, they can potentially harm the baby.

Since Pitocin stimulates contractions, doctors have to be very careful when using it. Two main problems that arise with the use of Pitocin in the delivery room that can lead to side effects that cause injury to the mother or child: (1) improper dosage and (2) hyperstimulation.

Improper Dosage of Pitocin

Administering the correct dosage of Pitocin is very important because too much of it can make contractions too strong. The tricky part for doctors is that women tend to respond quite differently to Pitocin, so the correct dose is very case-specific and must be custom-tailored to each patient. Some women are susceptible to Pitocin and only require a small amount, whereas others require larger doses.

This is precisely why all hospitals have stringent protocols and procedures for administering Pitocin to avoid an overdose. They require doctors to start with a small dose and then increase the amount gradually based on the patient’s response. The problem is that doctors and nurses in the delivery ward get busy and tend to just turn the Pitocin drip on and pay little attention to the mother’s response until it is too late.

How Much Is Too Much?

How much Pitocin is too much?  There is no set answer as to when the dosage of Pitocin crosses the line into “too much.”  How much Pitocin a woman can or should receive depends on several individual factors and the specific circumstances of each labor and delivery. Because every person’s body responds differently to Pitocin. Some may require only a small amount to stimulate adequate contractions, while others may need higher doses.

How do you know where the patient falls on this spectrum?  You start out with low doses of the drug and you carefully monitor the mother and fetus. The initial dose is typically low, often starting at 0.5 to 2 milliunits per minute (mU/min). The dose may be gradually increased, usually by 1-2 mU/min every 15-60 minutes, until a pattern of adequate, regular contractions is established that’s effective for labor progression.

Again, continuous monitoring of uterine contractions and fetal heart rate is crucial. Then, you can assess the response to Pitocin and determine if Pitocin overdose is a concern. If you see excessively frequent or strong contractions or signs of fetal distress, that is an alarm to pull back.

Hyperstimulation

When too much Pitocin is administered, or if a woman over-responds, it can cause a reaction known as “hyperstimulation” of the uterus. This involves uterus contractions that are much too strong and with inadequate rest time between contractions.

Each time a contraction happens, it momentarily restricts oxygen to the baby because it compresses the placenta. When a hyper-stimulated uterus contracts too strongly and too frequently, it can result in acute oxygen deprivation. Hyperstimulation from a Pitocin overdose can lead to very dangerous oxygen deprivation during childbirth. This can cause permanent damage to the baby’s brain and result in injuries such as cerebral palsy.

Hospital Pitocin Protocols

All hospitals have formal, written rules and strict protocols regarding how Pitocin should be used and administered during labor and delivery. These rules are primarily designed to protect the hospital from potential liability.

As a general rule, hospital rules for Pitocin require doctors to start slowly with a low dose and then gradually increase the dose after monitoring the patient’s response. Most hospitals limit or prohibit the use of Pitocin when the mother is dilating, having strong contractions, or the baby is showing concerning signs on the fetal monitoring strips, such as late or recurrent variable decelerations. Hospital Pitocin protocols also mandate that doctors and nurses continuously monitor a mother’s response to Pitocin once administered.

So what happens if the doctors or nurses violate or disregard the hospital rules for administering Pitocin? Does that mean that they are automatically negligent? Arguably, yes, but don’t expect a doctor to admit that even in the face of clear evidence.

Pitocin Negligence

Negligent use or administration of Pitocin in birth injury cases can come in a variety of forms and circumstances. One of the most common situations occurs when the doctor orders Pitocin to push through a vaginal delivery despite early warning signs of potential dangers or complications. For example, if the fetal heart tracings are concerning, or the mother’s blood pressure is very high, administering Pitocin would probably be a breach of the standard of care.

The other prevalent type of medical negligence involving Pitocin occurs when the doctors and nurses start the mother on Pitocin and then get complacent and neglect to carefully and continuously monitor how the mother is responding. Monitoring the mother’s response to Pitocin is critical because some women tend to over-respond to the effects of Pitocin and have contractions that are too strong. The delivery team needs to look for warning signs of this and then discontinue the Pitocin to avoid harm to the baby.

Settlements and Verdicts in Pitocin Birth Injury Cases

Below are summaries of recent birth injury malpractice cases involving Pitocin’s negligent administration.

• $31,550,825 Verdict (Arizona 2023): The expecting mother, who had experienced an uneventful pregnancy, went to the hospital for delivery. The baby was in distress during the childbirth, according to the fetal heart monitor. The delivery team did not act; they kept giving Pitocin instead of looking to deliver the baby more quickly to save the child from oxygen loss. The child suffered a brain injury, which resulted in cerebral palsy. The family subsequently initiated legal action for a birth injury, alleging that the medical team, including the obstetrician and nurses, failed to respond adequately to indications of poor blood flow and oxygenation to the unborn child. They also claimed that the use of the drug Pitocin during these complications was inappropriate and that there was a delay in performing an essential cesarean section. Those arguments obviously did not fly.
• $13,300,000 Verdict (Maryland 2022): A woman with high blood pressure was admitted to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in 2004 for labor induction. Pitocin was administered by the medical staff to help induce contractions, yet despite extended labor of over 17 hours and signs of fetal distress, including abnormalities on the fetal heart monitor, a vital cesarean section was not promptly performed. The delay led to the newborn suffering from intra-skull bleeding, resulting in permanent brain damage and intellectual disability. The verdict included future medical care costs, compensation for pain and suffering, and potential loss of future earnings. The attending physician and nursing staff were found to be negligent for not obtaining informed consent during labor and for their improper administration and response to Pitocin-induced labor signs. The case highlighted the necessity of timely medical intervention and the impact of healthcare provider negligence on patient outcomes.
• $20,0000 Verdict (Illinois 2022): A child suffered permanent brain damage due to prolonged oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery. The family’s Pitocin lawsuit alleged that the defendants (hospital and OB/GYN) were negligent in failing to properly monitor a mother’s response after administering Pitocin and filing to discontinue the Pitocin when the fetal heart rate pattern showed warning signs. A jury in Cook County, Illinois, awarded $20 million, which included $16.5 million in future medical expenses.
• $23,374,555 Verdict (Missouri 2022): A birth injury lawsuit alleged that the defendant’s OB/GYN negligently failed to decrease or discontinue Pitocin after electronic fetal monitors showed clear signs of excessive uterine contractions. The baby suffered hypoxic-ischemic brain damage and was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy (one of the most severe types) with cognitive impairment. The $23.3 million verdict included $18.9 million for future medical expenses and $5 million for pain and suffering.
• $1,500,000 Settlement (Nevada 2021): Baby suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), resulting in cerebral palsy with profound and permanent intellectual disability and impaired speech. The lawsuit alleged that the doctor negligently administered Pitocin by failing to follow the applicable hospital procedures for when Pitocin should be given and then failed to properly monitor the mother after it was given. The case was eventually settled for a $1.5 million split between two defendants.
• $5,700,000 Settlement (California 2021): A lawsuit alleged that under the hospital’s own policies and procedures, Pitocin should not have been administered when there was tachysystole, which the hospital itself defined as more than five contractions in 10 minutes averaged over 30 minutes. Here, the mother showed clear signs of tachysystole almost immediately when the Pitocin was increased for the fourth time. As a result, the child suffered severe and catastrophic brain damage as a result of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Getting a Lawyer for Your Malpractice Claim

If your child has suffered a birth injury as the result of excessive Pitocin or other mistakes during childbirth, our firm has the experience and resources to help you both get the compensation you deserve. Our birth injury attorneys are based in Maryland, and most of our cases are here. But our law firm handles serious injury and death cases nationwide.

Call and speak to a birth injury medical malpractice attorney at 800-553-8082 or get an online case evaluation.