Articles Posted in Fatal Birth Injury

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A woman engaged the professional services of an obstetrician to give her prenatal care and to deliver her baby. On October 24, 2002, the woman was admitted to the emergency room because she was already in labor. The labor proceeded normally until the second stage of labor when the woman was instructed by her doctor to push the baby out and the mother had difficulty bearing down. The mother was not pushing hard enough so the doctor tried to suction the baby out. When this also failed, the doctor told the woman that her baby will have to be delivered via cesarean section but the woman refused.

The doctor then obtained the woman’s consent to deliver her baby using forceps. But before the forceps could be locked, the baby popped out. It had a faint heartbeat but it was eventually declared dead after 45 minutes of trying to revive the baby.

The woman then sued the obstetrician and the hospital in behalf of her infant. She filed a suit in damages for medical malpracticefor the personal injury sustained by her infant that died as a result of the negligence and fault of the obstetrician. She also sued for the wrongful death of the child. She also sued for her own personal injury and she sued for her own emotional distress.

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A child survived her birth for approximately two and one-half years; and during such period lived her short life in pain and suffering with and from polycystic kidneys and other diseases. Through the medium of the administrators of her estate (the parents), she makes claim in tort against the defendant doctors for conscious pain and suffering sustained by her after birth, contending that as a result of the defendants’ medical malpractice (where a birth injury or birth injury accident may result) she was conceived and born when she should not have been conceived or born. Such type of claim has in recent years received nomenclature in the field of torts as one for ‘wrongful life’ and/or the ‘right not to be born’.

Is the claim for “wrongful life” legally viable? Is there a legal right to make claim for pain and suffering resulting from a tort committed prior to conception and thus having been conceived and born?

Both defendants are licensed doctors, ‘specialists’ in the field of obstetrics; that the mother of the infant decedent had previous to the birth of the infant plaintiff given birth to a child in June 1969; that the prior child was born with polycystic kidneys and other conditions and died a short time after its birth; that defendant-one, was in charge of that delivery; that after the death of the prior child, defendants rendered medical care and advice to the mother between June 1969 and 31 July 1970; that based upon such advice the mother became pregnant, resulting in the birth of the presently involved infant, on 31 July 1970; that the defendant-two supervised and delivered said child; that this child, plaintiff now deceased, was also born suffering from polycystic kidneys from which she died two and one-half years later; that defendants were guilty of malpractice because of the negligent care, treatment and advice given to the mother which, they maintain, was not in accord with accepted medical standards in that the medical care and advice was improper by failing to inform the mother and father of the deceased infant of the risk of said infant’s being born with such congenital defects inherent in another pregnancy; that defendants represented to the mother that the condition of the prior (1969) deceased child did not indicate any reason for the mother not to become pregnant again and that there was no reason to fear that a future pregnancy would result in the birth of an unhealthy, congenitally defective child; that defendants did not inform them that polycystic kidney disease was hereditary in nature; that defendants failed to take tests to ascertain the chromosomal and/or genetic makeup of the mother and father so as to ascertain the possibilities and probabilities on a rational basis of any birth following that of their male child born in June 1969 who was afflicted with said congenital kidney disease, and in advising, informing and assuring the mother and father that any child conceived and born to them subsequent to the birth of the child in 1969 would not be similarly afflicted without any test data as a basis for such advice; and by giving the plaintiffs such reassurance without having made any research or investigation into relevant medical information then available concerning said condition and its congenital hereditary nature.

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A grieving mother, whose newborn baby died following a string of hospital blunders, is joining other in the call to the NHS to learn from past mistakes and improve hospital delivery room operations.

The 34-year-old mother is suing the Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough Common, Orpington, after she was left in a triage room for more than three hours, even though she was presenting obvious signs of active labor.

This mother shared the tragic story that ended in the stillbirth of her young son to promote National Birth Trauma Awareness Week which ended Sunday, April 10.

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It was revealed today that new studies are showing a strong link to the drug Prozac and persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) in newborns.

“PPHN does not allow newborns to get enough oxygen,” claims one Manhattan Birth Injury Lawyer. “In a medical journal this disorder is sadly described by one doctor, ‘Subsequently, with the loss of placental gas exchange and the inability to increase pulmonary blood flow, arterial oxygen tension falls to very low levels. If this situation is not reversed, the infant may die of severe hypoxemia.’ Women need to be aware of this risk before taking Prozac.” He added.

From the study it appears that babies born to mothers who took antidepressants like Prozac 20 weeks or later in their pregnancy were more than five times as likely to develop the condition than babies born to mothers who had not taken anti-depressants during their pregnancy. Hospitals in Nassau and Suffolk Counties are very aware of these situations.

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NY Birth Injury Lawyers have been examining the work of a non-profit’s group to pass what they call the “Kids-safe Chemical Act,” which hopes to be a major upgrade to the original Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.

“Basically this group says there is a strong link between pollution and diseases in our population including lung cancer, infertility and birth defects,” said on NY Birth Injury Lawyer. “Current law does not force chemical companies to prove a chemical is safe before it ends up in children’s toys and products.”

He went on to explain that the Toxic Substances Control Act has not been amended since 1976 and has been recently called the weakest of all major environmental laws on the books today.

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According to a New York Birth Injury Lawyeryou can take steps against Vertebral Subluxation Complex by checking your child for signs and symptoms at home. To do so all you will need is a mirror – preferable a full-length mirror – and your child. First, have your child stand with their back to you facing the mirror. Make sure that they are standing as straight as possible. Next check out the general spine alignment – you will want to see if it is straight, or if it seems to be curving right or left. Next, as a NY Birth Injury Lawyer has mentioned, observe the head placement to see if it seems to be tilted or rotated. You will then want to look at the hips and shoulders to see if they seem to be out of alignment. If one side seems to be higher that the other, chances are that they are not level. By gently rubbing the muscles on either side of the spine, you should be able to tell if they feel tight or ropey in nature. Finally, press on the knobs of the spine to see if your child feels tenderness or pain. If any of these things appear to cause pain or appear to impede the natural structure of the spine and body, you may want to talk to a doctor, as your child may be suffering from Vertebral Subluxation Complex. This is usually not a fatal birth injury bust doctors in The Bronx and Queens are looking for ways to discover the problem before it gets to serious.

In situations where birth trauma may have caused Vertebral Subluxation Complex to appear in your child, a New York Criminal Attorney can assist throughout the process of seeking reconciliation and treatment. If you need an advocate to work with you to make sure you are receiving the best care and treatment available, a New York Criminal Attorney is there for you.

The Office of Stephen Bilkis and Associates can offer you support and guidance as well as a free consultation when you contact us at 1-800-NY-NY-LAW. We have offices in N York City, including Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island and The Bronx and in Nassau County, Suffolk County and Westchester County.

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Legal cases involving infant death are always tragic; it’s necessary that the legal system properly defend them. But it is appalling if the court system be allowed to use outdated information to wrongly accuse already suffering parents. So argues Dr. Squier who is advocating for a new examination of the symptoms of SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome).

“In the past four years there have been several discoveries about the dura, the membrane covering the brain. It was thought that it was there to protect the brain from shock, but we now know it also has the very important function of controlling blood flow out of the brain. At birth the dura has huge blood channels that can leak – and not always as a result of trauma. They do, however, disappear during the child’s second year of life. These findings are so significant that I now believe that half or even more of those who have been brought to trial in the past for SBS have been wrongly convicted. ‘I am also convinced we can virtually exclude shaking as a cause of death in babies unless, as well as bleeding in the brain, we have additional evidence of trauma, such as serious damage to the neck. When a baby is shaken, the head will flop back and forth and the neck becomes the weak point. In other words, if you shake a baby so hard that it dies, it is the neck that is going to show the damage, not the brain.” Hospitals in New York City and Queens must be aware of these situations.

The doctor’s view is gathering worldwide momentum but is also garnering toxic feedback. She says that pathologists want to remain in the comfortable and unchallenging zone of an outdated theory. She says judges don’t appreciate new science that could make convictions more complex, and police forces don’t want to change the current makeup for fear of not getting the convictions they want.

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Designated pediatric hospitals have a distinct duty of care to their patients, mother and child alike. If they don’t have a dedicated anesthesiologist on staff, that may cause serious problems when an emergency arises, as often happens during live births, explained a New York Birth Injury Lawyer. That’s just how things go.

When minutes count towards the ultimate health of a child and count towards their possible life or death, an acute obstetrical emergency must have the right kind of staff on call to handle the situation. Hospitals with certain designations that specifically deal with obstetrical complications, generally have a dedicated anesthesiologist on staff, if they don’t, then they are not living up to the level of care that their patients need.

If something goes wrong because there was not an anesthesiologist on call and a baby and/or mother is seriously injured or dies, therein lies a medical malpractice birth injury lawsuit.

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A father who had been wrongly accused of second-degree murder nearly twenty years ago has now been exonerated of all charges.

The man, who had been charged in the death of his five-week-old son in 1992, was told that the conviction of his case was unreasonable. A well-known Canadian superstar of pediatric forensics, Dr. Charles Smith, concluded back in 1992 that the 5-week old had been shaken to death, reported a New York City Birth Injury Lawyer.

The local authorities, the Crown, offered the father a deal just six months into the case. They said that if he would plead guilty to criminal negligence that lead to his son’s death that he would only have to serve a 90-day jail sentence, to be served on the weekends. The father took the deal.

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