Neonatal encephalopathy 2015: opportunity lost and words unspoken

Abstract

The Task Force Study on Neonatal Encephalopathy Second Edition 2014 failed to address Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM) and its forty years of clinical futility, failed to condemn EFM’s continued use against physicians in the world’s courtrooms and ignored the ethical breaches EFM’s use compels physicians to commit daily. This article considers why these critical points were overlooked and asks why the Task Force recommended continued EFM use for all women in labor while simultaneously acknowledging EFM’s impotency. This paradox is explored among the background of trial lawyers’ involvement in cerebral palsy and the failure of birth-related professional organizations to recognize that the Daubert doctrine may be used to exclude EFM junk science from the world’s courtrooms.

Keywords:

• Cerebral palsy
• cesarean section
• Daubert
• electronic fetal monitoring
• medical malpractice

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.