What Are Your Rights When Labor-Inducing Drugs Cause Birth Injuries?

September 10, 2025

A birth injury malpractice claim involving Pitocin or other labor-inducing drugs arises when a healthcare provider’s failure to administer or monitor these powerful medications correctly causes harm to the mother or child.

This failure, or deviation from the accepted medical standard of care, could involve giving too high a dose, starting it too early, or not responding to clear signs of fetal distress.

These cases are challenging because they require proving a direct link between the drug’s mismanagement and the specific injury, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) or cerebral palsy. This means showing that the provider’s actions, and not some other factor, were the cause of the harm.

However, holding the responsible medical team accountable secures the financial resources your family needs for your child’s lifelong care. A birth injury creates a lifetime of medical needs, and a successful claim provides for that future.

If you have questions about what happened during your labor and delivery, call Wapner Newman for a no-cost consultation at (215) 569-0900.

Key Takeaways for Malpractice Claims Involving Labor-Inducing Drugs

Improper Pitocin use that causes injury is medical negligence. When healthcare providers deviate from the standard of care—such as by giving an excessive dose or ignoring fetal distress—and that failure leads to a birth injury, it constitutes malpractice.
Oxygen deprivation is the primary cause of these birth injuries. The misuse of labor-inducing drugs leads to uterine hyperstimulation, which reduces oxygen flow to the baby and causes severe, lifelong conditions like HIE and cerebral palsy.
A successful claim provides for your child’s lifelong needs. Compensation is intended to cover extensive costs, including ongoing medical care, therapies, assistive equipment, and the loss of future earning capacity, securing your child’s quality of life.

What Is Pitocin and How Is It Supposed to Be Used Safely?

When labor stalls or a medical reason requires delivery to happen sooner rather than later, doctors may turn to induction. One of the most common tools for this is Pitocin, a synthetic version of the body’s natural hormone, oxytocin. Its purpose is to start or strengthen uterine contractions to move labor along.

There are certainly valid medical reasons for labor induction, such as a pregnancy that has gone well past the due date or a health condition in the mother, like preeclampsia, that makes continuing the pregnancy risky. The problem is not the drug itself, but its management. When used improperly, this powerful tool causes significant harm.

Because Pitocin is so powerful, its use is governed by a strict standard of care. This medication requires constant, careful supervision. The core principles of its safe use include:

Start Low, Go Slow: Medical guidelines recommend starting with a very small dose and increasing it gradually, allowing the medical team to find the lowest effective dose without overstimulating the uterus.
Continuous Monitoring: Both the mother’s contraction pattern and the baby’s heart rate must be watched without interruption. This provides a real-time view of how both are tolerating the induced labor.
Immediate Response to Distress: If the baby’s heart rate shows signs of distress, or if contractions become too strong or frequent (a condition called uterine tachysystole), the standard of care requires the medical team to act immediately. This usually means reducing or stopping the Pitocin drip to allow the baby to recover.

When Does Pitocin Use Cross the Line into Medical Negligence?

The line between appropriate medical care and medical negligence is crossed when a provider’s action—or lack of action—falls below the accepted medical standard, directly causing harm. This is the core of a negligence claim.

Think of the standard of care as the rulebook that doctors and nurses are expected to follow. A violation of those rules that results in an injury is grounds for a malpractice claim involving Pitocin.

Some common failures rise to the level of negligence in these cases.

Common Failures That May Constitute Negligence:

Administering an Excessive Dose: Giving too much Pitocin too quickly causes hyperstimulation of the uterus. When contractions are too strong, too long, or too close together, the baby may not get enough oxygen in the brief periods of rest between them.
Ignoring Fetal Monitoring Data: The fetal heart rate monitor is a direct line of communication, showing how the baby is handling labor. Ignoring or misinterpreting signs of distress, like repeated decelerations in the heart rate, is a frequent and dangerous diagnostic error.
Failing to Stop the Drip: One of the most serious mistakes is continuing the Pitocin infusion even when the baby is clearly in distress or the mother’s contractions are dangerously strong. The FDA’s own labeling for Pitocin warns that brain damage is a potential adverse reaction.
Poor Documentation: Incomplete or inaccurate records of the Pitocin dosage, contraction patterns, and fetal heart rate make it difficult for the hospital to defend the care provided. It may also suggest that the monitoring itself was substandard.

In many of these situations, it isn’t just one individual who is responsible. Under a legal principle known as vicarious liability, the hospital or healthcare system may also be held responsible for the negligent actions of its employees, like nurses or resident physicians.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pitocin Malpractice Claims

How long do I have to file a birth injury claim in Pennsylvania?

In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is generally two years from the date the injury was discovered. However, the law includes special provisions for minors. The clock is typically “tolled,” or paused, until the child turns 18. This means you generally have until their 20th birthday to file a lawsuit. Despite this extended deadline, it is always best to act sooner to preserve evidence like fetal monitoring strips and witness memories.

Will my case definitely go to trial?

Not necessarily. Many birth injury cases are resolved through a settlement before ever reaching a courtroom. Hospitals and their insurance companies may prefer to negotiate a settlement rather than face the uncertainty and expense of a trial. Our firm prepares every case as if it will go to trial. This rigorous preparation puts you in the strongest possible position, whether at the negotiating table or in court.If you’re seeking justice for a birth injury, our birth injury attorney can guide you through the process.

The hospital said the injury was unavoidable. How do you prove otherwise?

This is a common defense, and it is one we are prepared to address. Our role involves a deep investigation into the facts. We retain independent, highly qualified medical professionals to review every page of the medical records—from the first prenatal visit to the final delivery notes—to determine exactly what happened and whether it could and should have been prevented with proper care.

Securing Your Family’s Future

You are right to ask questions. You are right to seek answers about what happened during the birth of your child. Discovering that a preventable medical error caused a lifetime of challenges is a devastating realization.

In Pennsylvania, our firm is familiar with the courts, the medical systems, and the unique challenges families like yours face after a birth injury. The sooner we begin our investigation, the better we preserve the evidence needed to build a strong case on your child’s behalf.

To discuss your situation in a free, confidential consultation, call Wapner Newman today at (215) 569-0900.