Articles Posted in Cerebral Palsy

Published on:

by

The Facts:

A medical malpractice action to recover damages for the birth injury sustained by an infant was commenced by plaintiff, the mother of the injured infant, against, among others, the defendant Hospital Center. Plaintiff alleges that, inter alia, as a result of the negligence, carelessness, and recklessness of defendants, plaintiff’s infant was born prematurely and thereby suffered severe and permanent brain injury, including cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and cognitive and speech impairments.

In December 2004, before commencing the action, plaintiff’s attorney requested the Hospital to provide him with the complete medical file for both plaintiff and her infant from July 1997 to December 2004. In July 2006, after the commencement of the action, plaintiff’s attorney specifically requested that the Queens Hospital provide him with, among other things, the fetal monitoring strips for 19 July 1997. On 9 November 2006, after plaintiff’s counsel made several attempts to secure the Hospital’s compliance with his request, the Hospital informed plaintiff’s attorney that the fetal monitoring strips he had requested no longer existed. Plaintiff now moved to strike the Hospital’s answer due to spoliation of evidence.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

The infant petitioner, Saad Muhammed, was born at defendant Hospital. The child was born prematurely at approximately 31-weeks gestation. It is alleged that the infant plaintiff suffers from, inter alia, cerebral palsy, spastic diplegia and developmental delay as a result of defendant’s medical malpractice due to failure to properly diagnose the amniotic infection of plaintiff infant’s mother, Sayyeda Fozia Tariq, and the defendant’s failure to properly monitor and intervene during the labor and delivery process.

Plaintiff filed an action for damages for medical malpractice of the defendant’s hospital in administering the birth of the infant petitioner. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to file a timely notice of claim.

The issue in this case is whether plaintiff timely filed the notice of claim against defendant hospital for its alleged medical malpractice.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

The Facts:

On 14 August 1989, the infant plaintiff was born at a Hospital and has suffered from a birth injury, that is, a brain injury called cerebral palsy. On 11 February 2004, plaintiffs filed a Notice of Claim and commenced the instant action on 18 March 2004. The plaintiffs allege that defendant departed from good and accepted medical practice between April 1989 through 14 August1989, viz: in its monitoring and treatment of infant plaintiff’s mother’s obstetric care, including running tests and taking a proper history; in failing to implement proper obstetric protocols and procedures; and in failing to implement proper protocols and procedures to ensure adequate obstetric training of its medical personnel.

The defendant, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, moved for an order dismissing plaintiffs’ complaint as untimely pursuant to NY Unconsolidated Law and the General Municipal Law. Defendant argues that plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred due to plaintiffs’ failure to file a Notice of Claim within 90 days and commence an action within one year and 90 days; that the action is one for medical malpractice based upon defendant’s alleged negligence in monitoring and treating plaintiff, but plaintiffs are trying to circumvent the statute of limitations by categorizing the current action as ordinary negligence.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

The Facts:

On 30 May 2000, the infant plaintiff was born approximately twelve weeks prematurely in a medical facility operated by defendants. The infant plaintiff suffered from neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, and he was placed in neonatal intensive care, where his blood oxygen and blood acidity was monitored by defendants’ staff. The blood oxygen was continuously measured by a pulse oximeter: a device, attached to the patient’s finger that uses light to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood. A respirator and breathing tube was used when it was noted that the infant plaintiff cannot breathe. At 11:00 AM on the following day,

Defendants’ staff performed arterial blood gas analysis, which is a laboratory analysis of a drawn blood sample that specifies both the acidity and the amount of saturated gas in the sample. The test demonstrated that the pH of the infant plaintiff’s blood was 7.254. At around 2:30 PM, a NYC doctor, also of defendants’ staff, ordered a second arterial blood gas analysis. At 3:00 PM that afternoon, the blood oxygen saturation was over 90%, according to the pulse oximeter. At 4:15 PM, the blood oxygen saturation dropped to around 50%-60% from a previous level of over 90%. Shortly thereafter, defendants’ staff noted that the infant was suffering from a hemorrhage in the lungs. Consequently, the staff cleared the blood from the lungs and then adjusted the respirator settings and breathing tube. The staff then administered a paralytic to immobilize the infant plaintiff and prevent him from removing the breathing apparatus. At 8:00 PM, another arterial blood gas analysis was done, the result of which was a pH of 6.7, which is dangerously low. The staff then adjusted the respirator to administer more oxygen through forced breathing. The following day, medical imaging showed that the infant plaintiff had suffered a brain hemorrhage and hydrocephalus, which is increased intracranial pressure on the brain caused by the accumulation of fluid. The hemorrahge caused periventricular leukomalacia, the destruction of white matter of the brain. This, in turn, caused the infant plaintiff to develop cerebral palsy; a brain injury.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

The Facts:

On 30 May 2000, the infant plaintiff was born approximately twelve weeks prematurely in a medical facility operated by defendants. The infant plaintiff suffered from neonatal respiratory Brooklyn distress syndrome, and he was placed in neonatal intensive care, where his blood oxygen and blood acidity was monitored by defendants’ staff. The blood oxygen was continuously measured by a pulse oximeter: a device, attached to the patient’s finger that uses light to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood. A respirator and breathing tube was used when it was noted that the infant plaintiff cannot breathe. At 11:00 AM on the following day,

Defendants’ staff performed arterial blood gas analysis, which is a laboratory analysis of a drawn blood sample that specifies both the acidity and the amount of saturated gas in the sample. The test demonstrated that the pH of the infant plaintiff’s blood was 7.254. At around 2:30 PM, a doctor, also of defendants’ staff, ordered a second arterial blood gas analysis. At 3:00 PM that afternoon, the blood oxygen saturation was over 90%, according to the pulse oximeter. At 4:15 PM, the blood oxygen saturation dropped to around 50%-60% from a previous level of over 90%. Shortly thereafter, defendants’ staff noted that the infant was suffering from a hemorrhage in the lungs. Consequently, the staff cleared the blood from the lungs and then adjusted the respirator settings and breathing tube. The staff then administered a paralytic to immobilize the infant plaintiff and prevent him from removing the breathing apparatus. At 8:00 PM, another arterial blood gas analysis was done, the result of which was a pH of 6.7, which is dangerously low. The staff then adjusted the respirator to administer more oxygen through forced breathing. The following day, medical imaging showed that the infant plaintiff had suffered a brain hemorrhage and hydrocephalus, which is increased intracranial pressure on the brain caused by the accumulation of fluid. The hemorrahge caused periventricular leukomalacia, the destruction of white matter of the brain. This, in turn, caused the infant plaintiff to develop cerebral palsy; a brain injury.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

A woman was pregnant at thirty-one weeks in August 2001. She was rushed to the emergency room because of premature labor. The doctors found that she was suffering from hypoglycemia or low blood sugar at 26 mg/dl. Her blood sugar levels normalized so she was discharged two days later.

A month later, the woman was rushed to the same emergency room because she was having seizures. She has had a history of seizure since childhood. A month later, the woman gave birth to a baby boy whose new born health rating was excellent. Forty minutes after he was delivered, the baby started trembling and shivering. He was transferred to the intensive care unit where his blood sugar level was discovered to be only 20 mg/dl. A little while later, his blood sugar level was measured at 5 mg/dl. He was given intravenous glucose until his blood sugar levels reached a more normal 71 mg/dl. He was discharged from the hospital two days after he was born.

A year later, the baby was referred back to the same hospital where he was born because he had developmental delays. An MRI was made of his brain and it was discovered that he had lost white matter in his brain. This suggested to the doctor that the baby had an episode where he suffered a brain injury due to lack of oxygen. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

A 34 year old woman was pregnant. This was her third pregnancy, the first two had been terminated and this is the first time that she wanted to bring the pregnancy to term. She her last menstrual period in December 1999 and her estimated date of delivery was September 7, 2000.

The woman did not have an abnormal PAP smear; she has never had any surgery on her cervix but she did have a heart murmur, she has had two shoulder surgeries and two abortions and she has a uterine fibroid which caused heavy bleeding and cramping at least one year before becoming pregnant.

The reason why she came to the obstetrician was because she wanted to get pregnant but was having difficulty getting pregnant. The doctor saw a fibroid and told her that her fallopian tubes were occluded. The doctor advised her to have her tubes “blown out.”

Continue reading

Published on:

by

A legal action was filed by a mother and his son who wants to recover damages for medical malpractice. The complainant’s demands an appeal from the order of the Supreme Court granting his opponent’s request of dismissing their complaint.

The incident started when the mother began receiving a prenatal care at the hospital which is owned and operated by the opponent on the legal matter. At 31 weeks of gestation, the mother was admitted to the said hospital in Queens for signs of preterm labor. During the admission, the mother’s blood glucose level was measured at 26 mg/dL, an abnormally low level, but was consequently measured at a normal level. The mother was then discharged after two days. At 34 weeks of gestation, the mother experienced a grand mal seizure and was brought again to the said institution by the emergency medical services personnel. However, after the same sort of assessment the mother was discharged. According to the past medical history of the mother, she had seizures during her childhood.

A month after the said seizure, the mother gave birth to a baby boy through a normal delivery. The baby boy got an excellent score from the test given to newborns and initially appeared normal. However, when the baby boy reached his 40 minutes in life, the baby began experiencing tremors and was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

Thirty years ago, a mother ingested a pill called diethylstilbestrol (DES) during her pregnancy which resulted in the birth of the complainant. The woman alleges that because of her mother’s uterus’ exposure to DES, the woman developed a variety of abnormalities and deformities in her reproductive system. As a result, several of her pregnancies terminated in spontaneous abortions and another resulted in the premature birth. The pre-term granddaughter suffers from cerebral palsy and other disabilities that they attribute to her premature delivery, birth injury and ultimately, to the woman’s mother’s ingestion of DES.

The action was commenced by the woman and her husband individually and on behalf of their daughter against several manufacturers of DES. After the issue was joined, the accused parties sought summary judgment to dismiss the complaint. The accused parties contended that the actions were barred by the Statute of Limitations and by the complainants’ inability to identify the manufacturer of the drug ingested by the mother of the woman. In addition, the accused parties argued that the daughter’s claims of a preconception tort presented no cognizable cause of action.

The Supreme Court agreed with the accused parties that the claims stemming from the daughter’s injuries were not legally cognizable and the court dismissed all four causes of action brought on her behalf and those asserted by her parents for their emotional injuries resulting from the daughter’s birth. The manufacturer’s motions were otherwise denied, however, leaving intact the woman’s claims relating to her own injuries and her husband’s derivative claim based upon his wife’s birth injuries.

Continue reading

Published on:

by

On June 4, 1953, the accused, a fraternal benefit association issued a certificate of membership in the amount of $4,000 to a postal clerk member of the New York Branch of the Association. While alive, he is entitled to participate in the benefits of the Benefit Fund in case he sustained various bodily injuriesthrough external violent and accidental means. The injuries should not be the result of his own vicious or intemperate conduct because it would wholly and continuously disable him from performing the duties of a Postal Transportation Clerk. If death shall result from such injuries alone within one year from the date of the injury, the Association will pay $4,000 to his step-daughter.

On March 31, 1962, while the contract was in force and effect, the postal clerk died. He was then 80 years of age and a patient at the Veterans Administration Hospital in New York. He had been confined for approximately 22 months prior to his death. Following notification of death and submission of proof by his stepdaughter and a refusal by the association to pay the benefit, the instant action was commenced. The association at trial conceded the existence of the contract and the status of postal clerk as its beneficiary. It denied and contested however the accidental death as defined in the policy.

Thus, the sole issue tried was whether or not the postal clerk’s death was caused by an accident within the meaning of the policy. The stepdaughter’s proof consisted of a death certificate and the testimony of a medical doctor. The death certificate issued by the Office of Vital Records of the Department of Health revealed that after an autopsy was performed, it was found out that the cause of death was Cerebral Arteriosclerosis caused by accidentally swallowing of sock. It was offered in evidence by the complainant to establish the cause of death of the postal clerk. In view of the association’s objection to accept the death certificate in evidence for such purpose, it was accepted by the Court only to establish the fact of death. A decision was reserved on its admissibility to show the cause of death. The medical doctor who testified had 36 years of practice and estimated treating about a thousand cases of cerebral arteriosclerosis during his career. He did not testify to treating the postal clerk during his lifetime or attending him at the time of his death or thereafter. However, the doctor stated that the death caused by suffocation due to the presence of a sock in a man’s pharynx is considered death by external and violent means.

Continue reading

Contact Information