Medical Mistakes During the Delivery of Babies

A couple in Chicago received a $3.27 million verdict when a jury found their doctor liable for mistakes made during the birth of the couple's child. Their lawsuit alleged that the doctor never considered using a Caesarean section despite knowing that the baby was unusually large. The boy's birth weight was 11 pounds, 5 ounces.

The boy's mother and father argued that the delivery doctor should have informed them of the risks of delivering a baby of that size and the possibility of using a C-section. Instead, the doctor proceeded without a C-section, and the boy's shoulder became stuck. When the doctor pulled to deliver the boy, he suffered permanent nerve damage to his right arm.

Around the same time, another Illinois couple received a $9.5 million verdict when their doctor ordered a C-section too late, leading to cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia. The baby showed signs of fetal distress, but the doctor delayed ordering a C-section and then unsuccessfully attempted a vacuum delivery.

In addition to arguing that the doctor was negligent, the couple's lawsuit also targeted the nursing staff for medical negligence. Many medical professionals are involved in the delivery of a baby, and they all play a role in ensuring that the delivery goes smoothly. A cerebral palsy lawyer can advise you on obtaining compensation for injuries that occurred to your baby during his or her delivery.

Other Examples of Medical Mistakes During Birth

A common medical mistake during birth is cutting off the supply of oxygen to the baby. This can have devastating consequences, leading to cerebral palsy, brain damage or seizures. Several medical errors that can lead to cutting off oxygen to the baby include:

Failing to perform a C-section when it is the safest option
Improperly using forceps, vacuum extraction or other devices that doctors use during delivery
Not treating problems with the umbilical cord wrapping around the baby's neck

Other medical mistakes that can lead to injuries during birth include:

Failing to anticipate birth complications (as happened in the example above with the larger than normal baby)
Administering incorrect or improper dosages of drugs
Failing to respond to fetal distress signs, such as irregular heartbeats, increased movement or unsafe blood readings

Medical malpractice during a baby's birth can lead to a lifetime of medical bills for the baby's parents. Injured babies may require close attention and care for their entire lives.

If a medical professional's mistake led to birth trauma for your baby, contact an attorney at Cappolino, Dodd, and Krebs, LLP to learn what rights you have.

Medical Malpractice Leading to Cerebral Palsy

After deliberating for a day and a half, a jury in Ohio recently found a doctor liable for medical malpractice and awarded a family $13.9 million. The family's lawsuit centered around the daughter, 10-year-old Haley. Her mother went in for a non-stress test in January of 2000. The doctor on trial told her that she had a low heart rate and suggested that he induce labor in order to increase her heart rate.

After inducing labor, the doctor decided not to perform a Cesarean section, a decision that caused Haley not to receive enough oxygen. The lack of oxygen then led to Haley's brain injury and cerebral palsy. An expert witness for the family also testified that Haley suffered injuries after the medically induced contractions and the use of a vacuum during her delivery. The doctor who delivered Haley testified that she never considered performing a C-section because there was no indication that there was anything wrong with Haley. The family alleged that a C-section would have prevented injury to Haley.

Several months before the verdict in Haley's case, a New Jersey jury found a doctor liable in a similar cerebral palsy case. In the New Jersey case, the plaintiff family alleged that the delivery room doctor waited too long to perform an emergency C-section. Medical experts testified that, had the doctor delivered the boy eight minutes earlier, he would not have suffered brain damage leading to cerebral palsy. A cerebral palsy attorney can help you pursue a medical malpractice claim if a loved one has suffered an injury during birth.

How Medical Malpractice Can Lead to Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy occurs in about two out of every 1,000 births in developed countries like the United States. There are multiple causes of cerebral palsy, which often pertain to complications during the birth of babies. The following are common causes of cerebral palsy associated with births:

Leaving the child in the birth canal for too long, which can lead to a lack of oxygen in the brain
Inadequately addressing problems with the baby after birth, including jaundice or seizures
Failing to determine that the umbilical cord is around the child's neck, which cuts off oxygen to the brain
Improperly using forceps or vacuum extraction during the delivery of the baby
Failing to perform a C-section when required

Decisions that healthcare professionals like nurses and doctors make during the birth of a child can have a lifelong impact on the baby and his or her family. Babies who suffer from cerebral palsy require lifetime treatment and attention from their families. Contact a birth trauma attorney at Cappolino, Dodd, and Krebs, LLP to hold negligent medical professionals responsible for their decisions.

Labor Induction Problems With Pitocin or Oxytocin

It’s not unusual for a doctor to choose to induce labor in a mother using pictocin, a synthetic hormone.

There are several often very good reasons to induce labor. But recent research shows that it can also be very dangerous for the baby. In fact, if a medical team is the least bit inattentive while inducing labor, it can lead to serious birth trauma or a reduction of oxygen to the newborn resulting in brain damage and cerebral palsy.

Here’s what happens. The medical team administers pictocin (or Oxycotin) to stimulate contractions to encourage the spontaneous onset of labor with the goal of a safe vaginal delivery of the baby. However, too much stimulation can create a hyperstimulation of the mother’s uterus. The uterine muscles contract too frequently or don’t relax between contractions which can result in a decrease of oxygenated blood from the mother’s placenta to the baby.

Lack of oxygen is one of the most common causes of natal brain damage and cerebral palsy. This lack of oxygen will show up on the fetal heart monitor records.

If your baby has missed some of the standard developmental benchmarks and your doctor induced labor using pictocin or oxycotin, it is possible she suffered a birth trauma.

An experienced birth trauma attorney can help you determine what happened, then help find the financial resources you need for your child to have a good quality of life.

Cappolino Dodd Krebs, LLP, with offices in Austin, Texas, has worked for more than 25 years to help families find the resources they need to deal with cerebral palsy and other birth traumas.

Has Tort Reform in Texas Worked for You?

In 2003, Texas voters approved an amendment to the state’s constitution limiting jury awards. Generically, it’s called "tort reform," and the gist of the legislation places a $250,000 cap on medical malpractice awards.

Advocates of Prop 12 claimed the amendment would cut the number of "frivolous" malpractice lawsuits and attract more doctors to Texas’ rural areas by reducing medical malpractice insurance rates and fostering a more physician-friendly atmosphere in Texas.

Five years later, some of those predictions have come true. Insurance rates have indeed dropped by about 25 percent and Texas has many more doctors than it did in 2003. And medical malpractice lawsuits have been cut in half.

But the same rural Texas counties that lacked a primary care physician or an ob/gyn in 2003 remain grossly under-served today. And, that 25 percent drop in insurance premiums doesn’t take into account the 150 percent rate increase Texas doctors suffered in the five years leading up to the 2003 referendum.

Further the reduction of malpractice suits has come at the expense of people who honestly suffered because a doctor made a mistake.

Increasingly, lawyers turn down medical malpractice cases because they can’t afford the often high expense of taking a case to trial. It can cost $100,000 or more to get a case ready for trial, an expense which lawyers must absorb if they lose. And, if they win, once the expenses are deducted from the jury award, the seriously injured victim is often left very little compensation.

This fact that the arbitrary caps prevent injured Texans from having a day in court has even prompted a lawsuit testing the constitutionality of Texas’ injury and negligence caps.

Among other claims, plaintiffs allege the Texas law violates patients’ jury trials and due process rights under the federal constitution. This case is pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and is expected to be heard this fall.

New Study Indicates Serious Risks of Antidepressants

New studies have revealed that antidepressants do have a link with pregnancy related risks as well as birth defects. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working to help pregnant women clearly identify the risks of certain medicines they may be taking.

At the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, a new study showed that some antidepressants are known to cause serious risks during pregnancy including premature birth, birth trauma and birth defects. Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa and Laxapro were among some of the prescription antidepressants that were listed. These drugs are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. They affect a chemical neurotransmitter that controls serotonin levels in the brain which affects a person’s mood.

The study focused on 200 pregnant women. Of the 100 that suffered from depression, half were given SSRI’s during pregnancy. About 23 percent gave birth prematurely, as opposed to the women who did not suffer from depression, where only 6 percent gave birth prematurely.

Premature birth can lead to many complications. The babies are at a greater risk for cerebral palsy, lung disease, disability, heart related birth defects or even death. Serious withdrawal symptoms have also been noted in babies where mothers had taken SSRI’s during the last trimester. Contact a brain trauma lawyer for more information.

The FDA has repeatedly warned about Paxil and other antidepressant use during pregnancy. Now, they plan to make it easier for women to be able to identify the risks of drugs right on the bottle.

The FDA wants to substitute their current system of ABCs for the safety of drugs with words that simply explain the risks. At present, a system of A, B, C, D, or X indicate possible or likely hazards to a mother or fetus, but this, at times, does not seem to be well-understood.

The letter A indicates that, in human studies, there was not a suggested risk to mother or fetus. The letter B indicates that, while there are no human studies, animal studies suggest no risk to the pregnant mother. The letter C indicates again, no human studies, but in animal studies there was evidence of potential harm. Some antidepressants such as Zoloft and Prozac, as well as some asthma medications, fall under this category. The letter D indicates that, in clinical trials, there was data showing a risk to the fetus. Paxil and Dilantin fall under this category.

Birth trauma can cause life-long devastation. A doctor can be held responsible by a birth trauma attorney if their negligence regarding the prescription of drugs or the birthing process results in serious injury. If you feel that you have been wronged a brain injury attorney can help.