Emerson Straw Sues on Behalf of Mother Being Sterilized Under Misleading Pretenses

Emerson Straw’s 31 year old client, went to HCA Brandon Hospital for the delivery of her baby girl. She was admitted under the care of a local OBGYN. On the evening of July 12, 2022, the defendant doctor proceeded with the delivery of the client’s baby via cesarean section surgery. During the surgery, the defendant doctor negligently lacerated the client’s spleen twice and then failed to identify the source of the lacerations or hemorrhages in a timely manner before concluding the cesarean.

Under a false belief that Emerson Straw’s client could not safely deliver babies due to a problem with her uterus, the defendant doctor requested the client’s consent for sterilization when the client was heavily medicated and ill from an extensive blood loss. No uterine bleed was found to be the main source of the client’s complications. A very rare splenic bleed was eventually found and an emergency splenectomy was performed by the doctor which finally stopped the internal bleeding. Even though the bleeding was due to a doctor caused iatrogenic spleen injury, the doctor proceeded with sterilizing the client anyway without informing her that her uterus was not the problem, and she could have safely had more children in the future. This client always wanted a baby boy.

The client and her family felt that there was negligence by the providers and the facts of this incident reveal profound anguish and other losses were incurred by the client as a direct result of alleged negligent care by these defendants.