KY doctor allegedly botched birth as he talked of missing a flight. He’s being punished
A doctor has agreed to stop delivering babies in Kentucky in response to an accusation that he botched a birth after saying he needed to catch a vacation flight.
The deal also calls for Dr. Gerald Thorpe, of Louisville, to reimburse the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure (KBML) $10,318 to cover the cost of the case against him.
The delivery at issue happened in September 2020 at T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow.
Witnesses said the mother, who was not identified in the licensure board complaint, was doing well and that the baby showed no signs of distress, though the delivery was going slow.
Thorpe told the parents he could either let another doctor take over, or use forceps to try to deliver the baby “because he has a plane to catch,” Stephanie Austin, a nurse involved in the delivery, told the board.
The parents told Thorpe to do what he thought was best.
Witnesses said Thorpe pulled on the baby three times with the forceps, a device shaped like large spoons that fit around the baby’s head. That process carries increased risks for the mother and baby.
A nurse said that when Thorpe pulled out the forceps a prolapsed umbilical cord occurred, according to the licensure board.
That condition, which can cut off oxygen to the baby, is considered an emergency.
The nurse, Natalie Bruce, said the monitor no longer picked up a heartbeat from the baby at that point.
Witnesses said that Thorpe then attached a vacuum device to the baby’s head to try to pull him out. It didn’t work.
Another physician that a nurse had called for help, John Craddock, arrived and told nurses to get the mother to the operating room for an emergency Cesarean delivery, called a C-section.
Thorpe said, “I need you to do this C-section, I have to leave for vacation,” Craddock said in a complaint to the KBML.
The baby had no heartbeat and wasn’t breathing when Craddock delivered him. Nurses worked for four minutes and 30 seconds to resuscitate him before detecting a heartbeat, according to information in the KBML complaint.
Craddock said the baby’s head was extremely bruised and his skin was pale gray, and a nurse said he was having seizure activity.
A consultant who reviewed the case said Thorpe erred by trying to deliver the baby vaginally despite the prolapsed cord and by not making sure someone held the baby’s head off the cord to preserve oxygen flow.
Thorpe disputed that the facts of the case showed a violation that would warrant sanctions against him.
However, he acknowledged there was enough evidence for a panel of the licensure board to conclude he violated the law, according to the board.
The agreement resolved the case short of a formal hearing that could have resulted in tougher penalties.
The agreement said Thorpe shall not perform or participate in any obstetrical delivery, and that the KBML won’t ever consider a request to change or end the deal.
Attorneys for the baby’s parents said in a civil lawsuit that he lived, but that a test showed results consistent with the baby suffering a brain injury from lack of oxygen during the delivery.
The extent of any injuries was not known when the parents filed the lawsuit last September because the baby was just a year old, the complaint said.
In a response, Thorpe denied any negligence or impropriety.
