Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

A birth injury lawyer secured an $8.5 million settlement for the family of a severely brain-damaged child. The Jersey Journal reported that even though the trial had already begun, attorneys reached an agreement to settle after five days of trial testimony.

According to the lawsuit, when the mother-to-be first went to the hospital, several prenatal tests were conducted. All of these tests suggested that the unborn baby was normal and healthy. A prenatal heart monitor was then attached to the mother’s abdomen to track the baby’s heart rate. Several hours later, the baby's heart rate started to drop. In fact, records showed that the unborn baby’s heart rate reached a dangerously low level of 60 beats per minute.

Although the baby’s heart rate was grave and required immediate medical attention, evidence suggested that the labor and delivery room nurse waited almost half an hour before calling the attending obstetrician. As the unborn baby continued to struggle, the obstetrician took over twenty minutes before even starting an emergency Cesarean section.

Evidence at trial showed that the unborn baby’s umbilical chord was compressed. This can cause a baby's low heart rate and can cause the fetus to be deprived of oxygen. Experts in the case claimed that as a result of the unnecessary delays by the obstetrician and the delivery room nurse, the unborn baby suffered permanent brain damage.

The child, who is now five years old, suffers from seizures, is unable to walk, and needs to be fed through a straw. The child will be in need for full-time care for his entire life. According to the terms of this birth injury settlement, $6 million was provided for the medical expenses the child will incur in the future. The parents received $2.5 million as compensation for their emotional pain and other damages.

To read more about this birth injury settlement, follow the link.

Unfortunately birth injuries are not uncommon. In early March a family received $19.2 million for their child’s birth injury. Click on the link if you wish to learn more about the family’s struggle with their child’s birth injury. Birth injuries often result in brain injury for the unborn child. If you want to learn more about brain injuries, follow the link.

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As we have often discussed on this blog, each day children are born with the often debilitating muscle disorder known as cerebral palsy. Sadly, many of those infants could have avoided acquiring the birth injury if only the medical professionals involved in their delivery would have acted consistent with recognized medical standards.

Cerebral palsy is a muscle disorder—affecting muscle tone, posture, and movement. Signs of the problem appear very early on in an infant’s life. There remain varieties of possible causes, but several of those causes original during childbirth itself. Far too often medical practitioners use inadequate procedures, causing a child to develop cerebral palsy.

That appears to be the case in a new birth injury lawsuit that was recently reported on in the St. Petersburg Times. A family is suing the Bayfront Medical Center after their infant was born blind and with cerebral palsy. According to the suit, the doctors used a device known as a vacuum extractor to essentially pull the young child out of the mother’s womb. The use of the device caused the young boy hemorrhage—leading to the brain injury and resulting medical disabilities. The family is claiming that the child should have instead been born through a Cesarean section, which would have prevented the injury.

The vacuum extractor is a device first used in the 1950s. Its use has decreased over the years, as many feel it presents unnecessary risk of complications. Its use is particularly dangerous to use the device on pre-term infants (as was the case in this suit). The nurses at the hospital were aware of this extra risk, but they failed to do anything to stop the vacuum being used.

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According to aboutlawsuits.com, a medical malpractice lawyer recently helped a family receive a $19.2 million verdict in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving their infant daughter. Fifteen days after the couple’s three-month premature daughter was born, the infant was given an improper dosage of nutrients. The child now suffers from cerebral palsy and blindness.

As a result of the events that transpired, the child’s parents brought a medical malpractice lawsuit against the medical center’s operator. Their complaint alleged that the infant was given a nutrients’ dosage that was 100 times more potent than the doctor’s prescription. Consequently, the 15-day old infant went into cardiac arrest and suffered complications. The center’s operator has maintained that the child’s current medical problems are a result of her premature birth. The operator has, however, admitted that it made a serious error during her treatment.

Birth injuries are a specific category of medical malpractice lawsuits that arise from a medical practitioner’s intentional or negligent actions either before, during, or following a child’s birth. The medical practitioner, who was responsible for the injuries, may be required to pay compensatory damages to the victim. These damages are an attempt to place the victim in a position as though the malpractice never occurred.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cerebral palsy refers to disorders that affect an individual’s ability to maintain muscle control as a result of brain damage. The CDC further states that a recent study projected 1 in 303 children suffer from cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy may be the result of genetic conditions, a shortage of blood supply to the brain before birth, infection, brain bleeding, a lack of oxygen, jaundice, and brain injury.

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Cerebral palsy remains a disorder that most only learn about after it strikes in their family. Once it becomes a personal reality the victims often scramble to discover more information about cerebral palsy and understand how it strikes. As with most medical issues, the Mayo Clinic provides a succinct, worthwhile initial foray into the character and cause of cerebral palsy.

What It Is
Cerebral palsy is a muscle disorder—affecting muscle tone, posture, and movement. Signs of the problem appear very early on in an infant’s life. Those symptoms most notably include limb rigidity, exaggerated reflexes, posture problems, involuntary movements, and trouble walking. Besides the physical problems, cerebral palsy suffers also experience intellectual problems, have vision and hearing issues, and seizures.

The disabilities associated with cerebral palsy affect each victim to different degrees. For some, the problems are only associated with one limb or one side of the body. For others the entire body is affected. The specific symptoms do not become worse over time. However, if not properly treated, the muscle issues can lead to complications, creating the appearance of an aggravation of the problem.

Causes
Most generally, cerebral palsy is caused by abnormalities or sudden problems in brain development. This typically occurs while the child is still in the womb or immediately before birth. Experts have identified a variety of causes that may lead to the disorder. These include: random gene mutations in the brain, maternal infection while pregnant, disruption in blood supply to a fetus, brain asphyxia during delivery leading to lack of oxygen, and traumatic head injury shortly after birth.

Several of those possible causes occur during childbirth, making it vital that medical professionals ensure that all proper steps are taken at that time to limit complications. Far too often, those medical practitioners fail to take action that they should, causing a child to develop cerebral palsy.

Continue reading " Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises " »

An east coast hospital has recently developed a comprehensive obstetrics safety program which has drastically reduced hospital errors in the delivery room. According to Crain’s New York Business, the program requires clear documentation of a doctor’s actions even in cases where unfortunate outcomes were not the result of a doctor’s negligent acts. The program then requires doctors to review the reports. The hospital claims that the safety changes made as a result of this program have resulted in a significant drop of birth injuries.

The program has lead to various safety changes throughout the hospital. For example, the labor and delivery unit eliminated its old procedure of communicating patients’ progress with a dry-erase whiteboard. The unit now uses a new electronic application that can be accessed through any Internet browser. The unit has also prohibited paper charting in order to improve communication.

The labor and delivery unit also hired a full-time patient safety nurse to educate staff on new protocols the doctors wanted and to conduct emergency drills. The department also hired three additional physician assistants to reduce the time the other obstetricians needed to be “on call” during their off hours. This change was made after the program showed that doctors tended to make mistakes when they were deprived of sleep.

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti are excited to hear about these new medical developments in safety and patient care. New innovative therapies can help prevent birth injuries. Too often our lawyers have witnessed tragic childbirth situations involving inadequate medical care.

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A father of three newborn triplets sues the hospital where his wife died during labor. WWMT News reported on the medical malpractice lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the doctors were aware that the mother had a placenta condition that caused massive bleeding. The father of the newborns claims that the doctors were negligent because they failed to have enough blood during the cesarean section, causing his wife’s death.

The placenta is a structure that develops inside the uterus during pregnancy. The placenta supplies the unborn baby with nutrients and oxygen from the mother’s blood. According to the March of Dimes Foundation, there are a variety of placental problems that can cause complications during the second half of pregnancy.

One type of placenta condition is a placental abruption. This occurs when the placenta peels away from the uterine wall before birth. Severe cases can deprive the baby of oxygen and nutrients. The main symptom of placental abruption is vaginal bleeding. Last year, a mother with placental abruption was awarded $1.4 million in her birth injury case.

The position of the mother’s placenta can also cause complications during pregnancy. A placenta previa is a low-lying placenta that can block the baby’s exit from the uterus. This position can cause the placenta to bleed during labor and birth. In some cases the bleeding can be severe, which can be dangerous to the mother and her baby.

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