Alabama State Senator Faces Childbirth Malpractice Lawsuit

A childbirth malpractice lawsuit was filed on June 11 against an Alabama obstetrician-gynecologist who is currently serving as state senator. The lawsuit alleges that Dr. Larry Stutts was negligent in his treatment of a patient whose child he delivered in July of 2013 at Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield, AL. The complaint, names Gentiva Health Services Inc. and two nurses who treated the patient at the time along with the senator.

Dr. Stutts defeated Roger Bedford in northwest Alabama to win a District 6 seat. Not long after the beginning of his freshman term, he was involved in a controversial attempt to repeal two health care laws mandating standards of post-partum care for women. The laws were occasioned by the complications and death of one of Dr. Stutt’s own patients, whose family sued him subsequently for damages.

Malpractice lawsuit filed against Alabama state senator

The Coopers filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Circuit Court over the allegedly inadequate care that the plaintiff received in the wake of her son’s delivery. The plaintiff experienced a retained placenta with post-partum hemorrhage and infection following the delivery and, according to the complaint, improper follow-up treatment led to serious health problems for the patient.

Dr. Stutts ordered a PICC line (IV tube) to be put in place for Cooper so that Gentiva Health Services could treat the patient’s infection with antibiotics after she went home. The center taught the patient’s husband how to deliver the antibiotics rather than following the doctor’s orders that the antibiotics be dispensed by a skilled nurse. The medical malpractice lawsuit names Dr. Stutts as a defendant who “negligently caused or negligently allowed” the center to allow the antibiotics to be administered improperly and who did not make sure that testing for the bacteria Gentamicin was performed.

The plaintiff then experienced toxicity from the medicine, balance and vision problems, bilateral peripheral vestibular system weakness and impairment, and pain. Due to her damages both immediate and permanent, she also was hindered in her ability to work and lost wages.

Senator faced prior claims of medical negligence

The case is not the first lawsuit alleging medical negligence against Dr. Stutts, whose patient Rose Church died from complications experienced following childbirth in 1998. Church’s family sued Stutts and a law – Rose’s Law – was passed the following year required health care insurers to cover at least 48 hours of hospitalization following childbirth to ensure adequate care.

Dr. Stutts was involved in a controversial measure in his first term as senator to overturn two laws, including Rose’s Law, related to health care standards for women. He withdrew the proposed legislation to overturn the laws when it was revealed that Rose’s Law was named for his former patient. The senator had not informed fellow lawmakers of his connection to the legislation. At the time when he withdrew the legislation, however, Stutts issued a statement that it was unrelated to any cases in his own medical career.

Resources Resources