The AAJ is hosting a training in Phoenix, Arizona this weekend on medical negligence. The seminar will cover a variety of medical malpractice cases, including birth injury lawsuits.
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Cerebral Palsy is thought to occur from a brain injury suffered either by the fetus, resultant from a birth injury, or as a result of a trauma sustained by the child shortly after birth. Attempts to reduce the occurrence of medical negligence and doctor error during birth may help to reduce the rate of cerebral palsy occurring in American births. Although Cerebral Palsy is the largest developmental disability affecting children in the United States today, there is no American system for tracking the occurrence of the disability. To read more about cerebral palsy, please click here.
Some hospitals have decided to reduce labor inducement in order to prevent birth injuries. These hospitals are participating in a Zero Birth Injury safety campaign. The campaign puts restrictions on who could seek early labor inducement to prevent birth injuries such as respiratory distress, severe infections, and broken collarbones. These newborns spend large amounts of time in intensive care which rapidly increases medical costs. Both the New England Journal of Medicine and the March of Dimes support this campaign’s finding that babies born prior to 39 weeks are more at risk for these birth complications.
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A Chicago suburb hospital is forced to pay $6.5 million dollars for a child who suffered a brain injury under their treatment. The attending obstetrician and labor and delivery nurse “failed to respond to the baby’s low heart rate and reduced oxygen flow caused by the drug Pitocin” which resulted in the birth injury.
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Birth injuries are commonly known side-effects of smoking while pregnant. Examples include underweight babies, sudden infant death syndrome, heart defects and other problems. A new smoking-related birth injury is now being researched. Researchers have found that smoking can have an effect on the thyroids of babies, as well as the mothers who smoke during pregnancy. Thyroid problems during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight, brain injury, premature birth, and even miscarriage. For the full story, click here.
A medical malpractice lawsuit regarding a birth injury causing cerebral palsy has been recently filed in St. Clair County, Illinois. The suit alleges that doctors failed to appropriately resuscitate a baby after birth and did not ensure that the infant was properly intubated and monitored at St. Louis University Memorial Hospital causing brain injury. Allegedly, these medical mistakes led the baby to develop cerebral palsy, a disorder of muscle coordination and movement control that is also associated with seizures, cognitive limitations and sensory impairments. For the full story, click here.
Serious birth defects may be linked to injections of the drug Dysport, similar to popular anti-wrinkle treatment Botox. A birth injury was reported in Australia when a baby was born deaf and blind after the mother was given facial injections of Dysport during the first week of gestation. The drug, a botulinum type A toxin like Botox, has known side effects in patients such as facial paralysis, dizziness, visual disturbances, fatigue, difficulty swallowing, anxiety and hallucinations. Botox has also been linked to deaths of children with cerebral palsy in the past. For the full article, click here.
A settlement has been reached in an Illinois birth injury lawsuit involving an Aurora boy who is now 7 years old. The boy allegedly suffered a birth injury when the hospital staff failed to respond to the baby’s low heart rate and reduced oxygen flow caused the drug Pitocin. He was born with metabolic acidosis and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. The defendants in the birth injury lawsuit settled for $6.5 million.
For the full article.
Greater than one third of mothers who chose to undergo a repeat Caesarean section had their babies earlier than the medical guidelines recommend. The earlier a baby is born the more likely they are to experience a medical complication like respiratory distress. Although babies born by Caesarean section after just 37 weeks of pregnancy are considered full term, the study shows that they were twice as likely to suffer from complications as those who were born by Caesarean after 39 weeks. The complications included respiratory distress, infections, hypoglycemia, being admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, or being hospitalized for five or more days. The findings of the study reinforce the message that “every week counts” in a pregnancy. The study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. To read the full story, click here.
A Chicago woman has filed a Chicago personal injury lawsuit against an Illinois doctor who delivered her fifth child last March. The birth injury lawsuit alleges that the doctor repeatedly denied the Chicago woman’s requests for treatment in the form of an epidural and pain medication during labor.
For the full article.
A study has found that vitamin D deficiency may increase the likelihood of having a Caesarean section. In the early 20th Century deformed bones in the pelvis often led to a C-section, but the problem virtually disappeared with the vitamin D fortification of milk and other foods. This background information gave way to a new study which found that women with low blood levels of vitamin D were almost four times as likely to have an emergency C-section as those with normal levels. Vitamin D has been associated with muscle weakness and high blood pressure, which helps explain the finding. Pregnant women are advised to take a thousand-unit supplement of vitamin D on top of any prenatal vitamins to avoid the risk of a C-Section. Sometimes, C-Sections can be delayed, causing birth injuries. To read the full story, click here.
The purpose of this blog is to deliver news and information that is relevant to our areas of practice. The news and information reported on this blog represent the legal actions of attorneys throughout the United States. Our firm does not claim to represent plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits, settlements, and jury verdicts reported, only those noted as Levin & Perconti cases.
