Infant's Death at Greenwich Hospital Prompts Lawsuit, Investigation

GREENWICH, CT — Two parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Greenwich Hospital after their baby Myriam died during labor and delivery. The lawsuit filed Jan. 4 seeks more than $15,000 in damages.

An investigation by the state Department of Public Health found that there were regulation violations related to the medical incident. The hospital was required to implement new policies and procedures to address fetal monitoring in multiple gestation admissions.

“Every year on June 3, this family will celebrate the joy of the birth of their son and have to relive the deep sadness from the death of their daughter at Greenwich Hospital,” said the couple’s attorney Peter Dreyer, who is with Silver, Golub & Teitell LLP.

The lawsuit also names Obstetrics and Gynecology for Women by Women and Dr. Marjan Hedayatzadeh as defendants.

Greenwich Hospital released the following statement:

The death of an infant is tragic and our deepest sympathies go out to the family for their loss. While Greenwich Hospital cannot comment on pending litigation, providing safe, high quality care is our first priority and, as a result, we take this matter very seriously. We remain fully dedicated to meeting that priority every day, with every patient. Following this incident, Greenwich Hospital instituted additional measures related to high-risk pregnancies.

Lauren Sorgen was 35 weeks pregnant with twins and was admitted to the hospital June 3, 2015, after there were signs her amniotic sac ruptured, according to the lawsuit. Medical staff verified heartbeats of both babies and confirmed they were both moving.

A short time later, staff documented that they had difficulty hearing heartbeats and couldn’t maintain fetal heart tracing, according to the suit.

The suit alleges that employees at the hospital made no effort to obtain an ultrasound of the twins, monitor their heart rates or initiate an emergency C-section.

A C-section occurred more than three hours later. The suit alleges that failure to properly monitor and promptly deliver Myriam allowed her to die from an anoxic brain injury, which is death due to oxygen deprivation. The couple’s son survived.

“Sadly, we cannot change what happened to Myriam, but we can hold those trusted with her care responsible for their actions,” Dreyer said. "This family went to Greenwich Hospital because they believed they would receive exceptional medical care. As the Connecticut Department of Health investigation revealed, it was far from that.”

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