When babies are born with disabilities at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Dr. Susan Dulkerian is the one who takes care of them.
Dulkerian, who is medical director of the hospital’s newborn services, knows first hand who suffers most when something goes wrong during birth.
Some of the children get help if their parents sue a hospital or doctor and are successful. But many more are stuck with the hand they’ve been dealt.
Dulkerian is among the advocates for a birth injury fund, which is gaining support in Maryland. Such a fund would help more children injured during birth get the financial support they deserve, Dulkerian said.
“The reality of malpractice is not everyone sues. There are people who have affected children who just don’t get anything,” Dulkerian said. “There is an inequality.”
A birth injury fund is a pool of money that doctors and hospitals pay into to support families whose children were injured during birth. Families are guaranteed an award from the fund and, in exchange, give up their right to sue.
The state health department will be looking into establishing a birth injury fund in Maryland, where doctors and hospitals say rising malpractice insurance costs are making it difficult to keep obstetrics practices and maternity wards in business.
Opponents say that birth injury funds are unfair to families because they do not hold doctors accountable for mistakes the way lawsuits do.
Dulkerian sees things differently.
She says lengthy lawsuits — and the fact that you need a lawsuit at all — to get help paying for birth-related disabilities are unfair to those children.
Often parents decide not to sue, Dulkerian said. Some do not have the time and money to spend years in court while others simply don’t want to file a lawsuit. Those families still deserve help, she said.
Children suffer even when the family does sue, Dulkerian said. As litigation drags on for years, the child may be missing out on needed health care services.
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