Nearly half the families of American children who’ve suffered perinatal injuries or death during or after birth decide to sue for reasons other than the money reasons that include the belief that the doctor is lying (JAMA, 11 March 1992).
Of the 127 families who’d had a baby who’d died or sustained permanent injuries, most were critical of communication with their doctors. Thirteen per cent complained that their doctors wouldn’t listen and a third, that they wouldn’t talk openly. Nearly one half believed that the doctors tried to mislead them, and nearly three quarters, that they weren’t warned about the child’s developmental problems.