The Pennsylvania Superior Court this week upheld a lower court’s ruling that allows a couple’s wrongful death suit against a Hazleton women’s health care facility to proceed.

Doctors Scott D. Muir and Fiorina Pellegrino of the Hazleton Women’s Care Center and Muir OB/GYN Associates, P.C. had appealed a 2009 decision by the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas that rejected their petition for summary judgment.

According to court documents, plaintiffs Baljinder S. and Jessica A. Matharu filed a wrongful death complaint against the doctors in 2007, following the 2005 death of their baby, who was delivered by a doctor in the Lehigh Valley.

Court paperwork states Jessica Matharu was under the care of another medical practice during her first pregnancy in 1997. She was given medication to prevent complications that can arise when a mother and fetus have different blood types.

According to the documents, she became a patient of Muir and Pellegrino in 1998. She was not given the medication and delivered her second child.

“Failing to administer (the medication) is relevant because of the harmful effect it can have on future pregnancies,” according to a court footnote.

The woman delivered a third child, but a fourth baby delivered under the Lehigh Valley doctor’s care died two days after birth.

Superior Court ultimately decided to affirm the trial court’s decision of Oct. 20, 2009.