Medical malpractice and birth injury
When medical care goes wrong, you deserve a straight answer.
Most bad outcomes are not malpractice. Some are. Our nurse and an independent physician read your records, and we tell you plainly which yours is. Free and confidential, for families in Connecticut and western Massachusetts.
Six kinds of cases we review
Each one needs a different kind of expert. Each page explains what the law asks you to show, who reviews it, and what is not malpractice on its own.
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Surgical errors
Wrong-site surgery, retained instruments, injuries that were missed afterward, and anesthesia mistakes.
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Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis
A cancer, stroke, heart attack or infection that was missed, or a test result that no one followed up.
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Birth injuries
Injuries to a baby or mother during pregnancy, labour and delivery, including brachial plexus and Erb's palsy.
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Cerebral palsy and HIE
Brain injury from a lack of oxygen around birth, and the cerebral palsy that can follow.
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Medication errors
The wrong drug or dose, a missed interaction or allergy, or a pharmacy that filled the wrong medicine.
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Hospital and nursing negligence
Patients not monitored, falls, pressure injuries, missed warning signs and unsafe staffing.
Most bad outcomes are not malpractice.
Medicine carries real risks, and many illnesses cannot be stopped. So before we file anything, a registered nurse builds a timeline from your records and an independent physician in the same specialty reviews it. If the care met the standard, we tell you, explain why, and return your records. If it did not, we explain what a case would involve, honestly, including the hard parts.
For parents, whenever the questions come
Cerebral palsy and HIE
A diagnosis often comes months after the birth
Many parents call us after a pediatrician mentions a missed milestone, not in the week of the delivery. That is normal. Our nurse spent twelve years in labour and delivery and the NICU, and she reads the monitoring strips minute by minute. Sometimes they show a problem that was missed. Sometimes they show the injury began before labour, and we tell you that too.
You can fill in the evaluation for your child. It takes about five minutes, and you can skip what you do not know yet.
What every review includes
These are the firm's rules, not marketing. They are the same for a short question about a missed test and for a birth injury case that may take years.
- $0
- for the first call, the records request and the expert review, whether or not we take your case
- Every page
- of your records is read first by our registered nurse, who builds the timeline
- Same field
- an independent physician in the same specialty reviews before anything is filed
- In writing
- our answer and the reasons for it, including when the answer is no
From your first call to an honest answer
The records come first
You do not need to collect anything before you call. With your permission, we request the complete records from every provider, including monitoring strips and the scans themselves, not only the reports. We pay for the records and for the physician review.
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We listen
You tell us what happened in your own words. We ask about dates, the people involved and how you or your child are doing now. There is no cost and no obligation.
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We gather the records
With your signed permission, we request the complete records from every provider involved, including monitoring strips and the images themselves, not only the reports.
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A nurse reads them first
Our registered nurse builds a timeline of what happened, hour by hour where it matters, and marks the questions a physician needs to answer.
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Independent physicians review
At least one physician in the same specialty, who does not work with the providers involved, reviews the timeline and the records. We pay for this review.
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You get an honest answer
We tell you whether we believe the care fell below the standard and caused the harm. If we do not, we explain why and return your records. If we do, we explain what a case would involve.
Example outcomes, including the hard ones
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Example outcome · Cerebral palsy and HIE
Delayed C-section after a worsening monitor tracing
The settlement was placed in a trust to pay for the child's care over a lifetime.
Settled
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Example outcome · Surgical errors
Bile duct injury during gallbladder surgery
The jury agreed with the defense. We had told the family before trial that this was a close case, and the firm did not ask them to repay case costs.
Lost at trial
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Example outcome · Misdiagnosis
Emergency room visit for a severe headache
We told the family plainly that we did not believe it was malpractice, explained why, and returned their records at no cost.
Declined after review
Example outcomes are illustrations written for this sample website. They are not real cases or clients. Results depend on the facts of each case, and past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.
The people who will read your file
Three trial lawyers and a registered nurse. A small firm on purpose: the lawyer who reviews your case is the lawyer who handles it.
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Lena Penrose
Founding partner
Spent eight years defending hospitals before founding the firm. Leads its birth injury work.
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Thomas Hale
Partner
Tries surgical and diagnostic-error cases. Spends more time with physician reviewers than in court.
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David Whitcombe
Senior trial counsel
Has tried medical negligence cases for over 25 years. Focuses on hospital and nursing cases.
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Clare Novak, RN
Legal nurse consultant
Twelve years as a labour and delivery and NICU nurse. Reads every set of records first.
“They read every page of my mother's chart and then told us it was not malpractice. It was not what we wanted to hear, but it was the truth, and it let us stop wondering.”
Tell us what happened. We will tell you the truth about it.
A free, confidential review by our nurse and an independent physician. If we do not believe it was malpractice, we will say so and explain why.