If your child was injured during labor or delivery, you already know the weight of that reality. The sleepless nights. The specialist appointments. The quiet grief of watching your child struggle with something that should never have happened. You've probably asked yourself more than once whether anyone is going to be held truly accountable. Not just financially. But truly accountable.
That's exactly the question at the center of a major legal development our team at Anapol Weiss recently achieved in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We just secured a court order allowing us to amend a birth injury complaint to include a claim for punitive damages against UPMC and its affiliated providers. If you're a family dealing with a birth injury, this is the kind of win you need to understand because it could matter enormously for your own case.
Contact Anapol Weiss today for a free consultation with our birth injury team: 866-944-0553.
Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained: What Is a Medical Malpractice Birth Injury Case?
A birth injury lawsuit is a type of medical malpractice case filed when a baby or mother suffers harm because of the negligence of a healthcare provider, such as a doctor, nurse midwife, hospital, or medical system, during pregnancy, labor, or delivery.
These cases are different from other personal injury claims because the stakes are extraordinarily high, the medicine is complex, and the defendants are typically large, well-resourced hospital systems with aggressive legal teams. Winning one requires not just proving that something went wrong. It requires proving why it went wrong, and connecting that failure directly to the harm your child suffered.
In the case our firm is currently litigating, Harrison v. Angela Sprunger, CNM, et al., the minor plaintiff EH was born on February 27, 2020 at UPMC Lititz. What should have been a safe, monitored delivery ended with a cord prolapse, a dangerous emergency where the umbilical cord slips ahead of the baby, leading to a severe lack of oxygen and a diagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). EH was transferred to the NICU, underwent therapeutic cooling, and has since been followed for HIE, cerebral palsy, gross motor delay, and muscle hypertonicity. He was, and continues to be, seriously harmed.
Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy: What Causes HIE During Labor?
HIE is a type of brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow to a baby's brain around the time of birth. It is one of the most serious outcomes a newborn can suffer, and it is, in many cases, preventable.
In EH's case, the complaint alleges a cascade of failures leading up to the cord prolapse. His mother, Monique Harrison, was admitted for a labor induction at 37 weeks and 4 days due to severe polyhydramnios, a condition where there is an abnormal excess of amniotic fluid, and advanced maternal age. Her amniotic fluid index (AFI) was 40.9; anything over 25 is classified as severe. This was a high-risk labor from the moment she walked through the door.
Despite that, according to the complaint, the certified nurse midwife (CNM) managing her labor performed an artificial rupture of membranes (AROM) without the attending obstetrician present, without properly monitoring fetal heart tones, and without adequately preparing for the known risk of cord prolapse that comes with polyhydramnios. After the rupture, fetal monitoring was intermittent or absent during a critical window. When the cord prolapse was finally detected, it was too late to prevent catastrophic harm to EH.
This is what preventable looks like. This is what accountability in a birth injury case has to address.
Punitive Damages in Pennsylvania Birth Injury Cases: What Does It Mean to Seek Punitive Damages?
Here is where this case takes on even broader significance for the Harrison family and for families across Pennsylvania.
In most medical malpractice cases, damages are compensatory. That means the money is intended to compensate the victim: pay for medical bills, future care, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. But compensatory damages, no matter how large, don't necessarily change how a hospital system operates. They can be absorbed as a cost of doing business.
Punitive damages are different. They are designed to punish and send a message that certain conduct is so reckless, so outrageous, that ordinary compensation isn't enough. In Pennsylvania, to pursue punitive damages in a medical malpractice case, you have to show that the defendant's conduct went beyond negligence into conscious disregard for the patient's rights and safety.
The Lancaster County court granted our motion to amend the complaint to include punitive damages against the defendants in this case, including UPMC, one of the most powerful and well-funded healthcare systems in the country. Getting that motion granted in Lancaster County, which is widely considered a conservative, defense-friendly venue, is a significant achievement. It means the court found sufficient basis to allow a jury to hear whether this conduct rises to the level of deserving punishment, not just compensation.
For families of children with birth injuries, this matters. When hospital systems face punitive exposure, they face real pressure to change policies, retrain staff, and take high-risk labor situations more seriously.
Similar Post: What Should I Know About Filing a Birth Injury Lawsuit in Pennsylvania?
Lancaster County Medical Malpractice Attorneys: Why Is Venue So Important in a Birth Injury Case?
Not all courtrooms are created equal. Venue, which is where a case is filed, can have a dramatic effect on outcomes in Pennsylvania medical malpractice litigation. Some counties are considered plaintiff-friendly; others are notoriously tough for injured patients to prevail in.
Lancaster County falls in the latter category. It is a conservative jurisdiction where juries tend to be skeptical of large verdicts, where defense firms are experienced and well-resourced, and where getting even a negligence case to trial requires careful, thorough work. Getting a punitive damages claim allowed in Lancaster County is the kind of development that signals real strength in a case.
Our birth injury team at Anapol Weiss led by Kila Baldwin, Paola Pearson, and Allison Goldberg does not shy away from hard venues. We build cases that can survive them.
Cord Prolapse Lawsuit Pennsylvania: Can You Sue for a Cord Prolapse Caused by Negligence?
Yes, and this is an area where the birth injury attorneys at Anapol Weiss can make a profound difference for families.
Cord prolapse is a known obstetric emergency. It is also a known risk of artificially rupturing membranes, particularly in patients with polyhydramnios, where excess fluid means the baby's head may not be firmly engaged in the pelvis at the time of rupture. The medical community has clear standards around how to identify that risk, how to communicate it to patients, how to monitor for it, and how to respond when it occurs.
When those standards are not followed and a baby suffers a cord prolapse as a result, that is a case. A serious one. The Harrison complaint lays out in meticulous detail the exact timeline of what was documented, what was missed, and what should have happened differently.
If your child suffered a birth injury involving cord prolapse, HIE, cerebral palsy, shoulder dystocia, or another delivery-related event, you owe it to your family to have that case evaluated by attorneys who understand the medicine and the law.
Similar Post: What Happens If a Baby’s Shoulder Gets Stuck and the Team Pulls Too Hard?
UPMC Birth Injury Lawsuit: Can You Sue a Major Hospital System Like UPMC?
Absolutely, and it is essential that families know this.
Large healthcare systems like UPMC are not immune from accountability. In fact, the law in Pennsylvania specifically imposes corporate liability duties on hospitals: the duty to select and retain only competent providers, the duty to oversee everyone who practices medicine within their walls, and the duty to adopt and enforce adequate policies to ensure patient safety. When those duties are violated, the hospital itself (not just the individual provider) can be held liable.
The Harrison complaint brings both vicarious liability claims (because the individual providers were UPMC employees acting within the scope of their employment) and direct corporate negligence claims against UPMC and UPMC Lititz. That dual approach is critical in cases like this, because it ensures accountability flows all the way up the chain from the bedside to the boardroom.
Birth Injury Lawyers Philadelphia: Why Choose Anapol Weiss for Your Birth Injury Case?
At Anapol Weiss, birth injury litigation is not a sideline. It is one of the most important things we do. Our attorneys have decades of experience handling complex obstetric malpractice cases, and we have the medical knowledge, the expert network, and the litigation experience to take on the most challenging defendants in the most difficult venues.
We fight for families who are already carrying so much and we don't ask you to pay anything unless we win.
The Harrison case is a powerful example of what that commitment looks like in practice: a court order allowing punitive damages against a major hospital system, in a tough venue, in a case involving a child who deserves justice.
If your child was harmed during labor or delivery, please reach out to us. We will review your case carefully and honestly, and we will tell you what we think.
Your child's story matters. Let us help you tell it.
Call Anapol Weiss at 866-944-0553 or contact us online for a free birth injury consultation. We represent families across Pennsylvania and nationwide.
Disclaimer: This blog is intended for informational purposes only and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. It should not be considered as legal advice. For personalized legal assistance, please consult our team directly.