Justice Alice Schlesinger
An action arose after plaintiff went into premature labor with her twin boys at almost 28 weeks gestation. Plaintiff contended the boys have continually required early intervention services and they still exhibited significant cognitive and language deficiencies as a result of the brain damage they suffered from their premature births and subsequent months in the hospital. The center of the controversy as to the prematurity centered around a condition called bacterial vaginosis. The hospital and doctor defendants contended there was no merit to plaintiff mother’s claim that she was suffering from that condition, that it went undiagnosed or that it had anything to do with the early onset of labor. The court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to all claims involving informed consent, labor and delivery, the care provided to the infants during their hospitalization, and spoliation of evidence. However, it denied defendants’ motion as to plaintiff’s prenatal care and the claimed departures related to that care, including the alleged failure to diagnose and treat bacterial vaginosis. The court referred to the fact plaintiff saw defendant doctor for her prenatal care and allegedly complained of greenish vaginal discharge.
