Baby's Disability Blamed on Kaiser Negligence

(CN) – A Kaiser hospital botched the birth of a baby girl who now has Erb’s palsy, her mother claims in a court.     Charnesha Cobb sued Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and the Permanente Medical Group Inc. in San Francisco County Superior Court on behalf of her now 2-year-old daughter, Joy Barnes.     Online medical resources describe Erb’s palsy as a shoulder injury that can happen during a breach delivery or when the baby’s neck is overstretched during a head-first delivery. The prognosis depends upon the extent of nerve damage.     Cobb blames Kaiser for Joy’s injuries, saying in her complaint that the “defendants neglected to adequately select a competent medical staff and to periodically review the competency of its medical staff and failed to adequately monitor its staff.”     As a result, “Joy Barnes has been diagnosed with Erb’s palsy and is permanently disabled,” the complaint states.     Cobb seeks economic and noneconomic damages, past and future medical expenses, loss of future earning and earning capacity, prejudgment interest, costs of suit and a jury trial. She is represented by Thomas Donahue and Rebecca Cucu of Donahue & Horrow in El Segundo, Calif.