Medical mistakes gone too far? Medical Malpractice News Flash

2008-08-04 22:29:50 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Featured, Medical Malpractice)

Dallas, Texas (Medical Malpractice News JusticeNewsFlash.com) –- Imagine a young couple awaiting the birth of their first child. They have done everything right during pregnancy from exercise to healthy eating. Yet during the birth, something goes terribly wrong, and by no fault of the parents. Doctors and hospital staff can be held responsible for causing medical damage to an infant during birth. These cases are becoming increasingly more common because parents are speaking out and bringing lawsuits against doctors in order to receive compensation for the injuries endured by their child. And although monetary reparations are paid, the infant must begin his life with, most commonly, Erb’s Palsy and/or brain damage.

Both of which are severe, but sometimes can be treated with physical therapy over time. When a doctor improperly forces a baby’s arm or hand through the birth canal, he is risking damage to the baby’s nerves forming abnormalities known as Erb’s Palsy. - This condition occurs when the brachial plexus (the group of nerves that controls movement of the arms and hands) is injured. The other most common birth difficulty can result in oxygen deprivation to the baby and prolonged oxygen deprivation can cause brain damage.

Medical errors, which may support a malpractice action, include:

*Failing to anticipate birth complications with a larger baby, or in cases involving maternal health complications;

*Failure to respond appropriately to bleeding;

*Failing to observe or respond to umbilical cord entrapment;

*Failure to respond to fetal distress (including irregularities in the fetal heartbeat);

*Delay in ordering cesarean section (c-section) when medically necessary;

*Misuse of forceps or a vacuum extractor during delivery;

*Inappropriate administration of Pitocin, a synthesized hormone used to induce or augment (speed up) labor.

Nationally, the Harvard Medical Practice Study estimated that each year, more than 180,000 people die, at least in part, because of medical mistakes. This also estimated that each year, more than 3% of patients in New York State hospitals suffered some form of a medical mistake, which resulted in serious injury.

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