
Is it Malpractice When a Material Infection Causes Cerebral Palsy?
How Cerebral Palsy Affects Development of Children in Kentucky & Ohio
Kentucky Birth Injuries Caused by Obstetric Forceps
Pitocin and Kentucky Birth Injuries
Kentucky Birth Injuries Caused by Vacuum Extractions
Kentucky Car Accidents and Drowsy Driving
Cell Phones and Kentucky Car Accidents
Defective Maintenance Issues Can Cause Kentucky Truck Wrecks
Texting Ban on Kentucky Motorists passed by House
Drugs for Osteoporosis Prescribed Unecessarily?
Defective Children’s Products & Toys are Constantly Recalled
Food manufacturers make consumers responsible
Defibrillator recalled by ZOLL Medical Corporation
Fewer complications from heart device specialists
Daubert Motion in Pain Pump Case Found for Plaintiff
Shoulder Pain Pump Manufacturer I-Flow Settles Lawsuits
Shoulder Pain Pump Manufacturers Have Been Silent
Pain Pumps: FDA Requires Warning that Use in Joint Causes Chondrolysis and Cartilage Damage
Yaz and Yasmin May Cause Stroke
Taking Yaz or Yasmin May Cause Deep Vein Thrombosis
Yaz Can Lead to Irregular Heartbeat
Hyperkalemia is a Potential Complication of Yaz Birth Control
Lawsuit Filed Against Bayer for Misrepresenting Safety and Effectiveness of Yaz
Cerebral Palsy can be Caused by a Maternal Infection
When Newborn Jaundice Becomes Serious – What Every Kentucky Parent Should Know
Cerebral Palsy’s Impact on the Development of Children in Kentucky & Ohio
Nothing is More Heart Wrenching Than Seeing The Consequences of a Prolapsed Umbilical Cord
Did You Know That Pitocin Can Cause Serious Birth Injuries?
Tired Truckers are a Danger to People on Kentucky Highways
Avoid a Kentucky Car Accident Caused by Drowsiness
Don't Ignore a Head Injury Following a Kentucky Auto Accident
Ten Factors That Can Lead to a Serious Kentucky Truck Accident
Cell Phones Are Blamed For Many Kentucky Car Accidents
Kentucky Lawsuits Filed Over Toyota’s Defective Accelerator Pedal
Fosamax osteoporosis drug prescribed when women only has osteopenia
Zicam cases in Kentucky and Ohio
Fentanyl pain patch being abused
Common Drug Errors to Watch Out For
One in Fifteen Children Injured by Medicine Mistakes
One in 50 Heart Attack Victims Sent Home by Emergency Room Doctors
Surgical Errors Cost Billions of Dollars Every Year
How to prevent medical mistakes
PAGCL & Shoulder Pain Pumps: What a Recent Study Reveals
Recent News Regarding Pain Pump Cases
Pain Pumps Used After Knee Surgery Can Cause Damage
Know the Symptoms of PAGCL, Especially if You Used a Shoulder Pain Pump
Medical Studies Find a Link Between Pain Pumps and Chondrolysis
Signs and Treatment of Kidney Failure
Yaz or Yasmin Birth Control Can Cause Deep Vein Thrombosis
Symptoms of Pulmonary Embolism Caused by Yaz and Yasmin Birth Control
The FDA issued a new warning yesterday to anyone currently using the drugs ALLI and Xenical to lose weight citing that they may cause severe liver damage in some cases. This came after the agency studied thirteen cases of major damage to the organ reported during a ten year period from 1999-2009. The cases involved twelve international patients taking Xenical and one American who used ALLI from 2007 to 2008. Three of the people involved in the study ended up needed transplants, while two others died.
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Responding to reports of rare but sometimes severe cases of liver damage, U.S. health officials on Wednesday announced revised labels for a widely used weight-loss drug.
The drug, orlistat, is available by prescription under the trade name Xenical and over-the-counter as Alli.
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The plaintiff mother was admitted to Rice Memorial Hospital in June 2007 for inducement of labor. She was under the care of Dr. Gabrielle Vencel Olson. When the fetal heart rate fell below normal, the fetus was delivered by cesarean section. The baby required resuscitation at birth. The child was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, cortical impairment and permanent neurological injuries. She requires constant care and had undergone six surgeries. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants were negligent in failing to timely deliver the baby after the heart rate dropped. According to a published account a $23.3 million verdict was returned.
- 3 - 10The plaintiff child was born in July 1984. Amniotic fluid with heavy meconium staining had been observed seventeen hours prior to delivery and bradycardia was noted seven minutes prior to birth. When the infant was delivered, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The plaintiff is confined to a wheelchair and is limited speech which is understood only by her and some close friends. She uses special equipment to help her synthesize speech and operates her wheelchair with the use of a joystick. She functions at a high intellectual level and had graduated from college. She participated in wheelchair soccer and swims with assistance of upper-arm flotation devices. The plaintiff claimed that the infant was deprived of oxygen for about twenty-seven minutes during and immediately after delivery and that the umbilical cord had been wrapped around her neck for about ten minutes prior to delivery. The plaintiff also claimed that proper resuscitative personnel did not arrive for fifteen minutes after delivery and the infant did not breathe independently for more than twenty minutes after birth. The plaintiff claimed that the neonatal nurse and physician's assistant should have been present when the delivery occurred. The defendants denied any negligence and contended that the injury was due to prior uterine assaults or a pneumonia infection the mother suffered several weeks prior to delivery. The delivering obstetrician, Dr. Fe Theresa McCarthy, reached a confidential settlement with the plaintiff prior to trial. According to a published account a $43.5 million verdict was returned.
- 4 - 10One of the greatest fears that all new parents have is learning that their newborn child has suffered a birth injury. Unfortunately, birth injuries occur more frequently than most people think.
One such birth injury found in children is cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a disorder that affects movement and posture and occurs during the development of the fetus.
One of the effects of cerebral palsy that many victims face is spasticity, especially in the lower-limb region. Though, there is no cure for cerebral palsy, recent studies show benefits from the use of botulinum toxin (Botox) for those that do. Researchers have found that Botox injections improve the gait of children who suffer from tightened calf muscles as a result of spasticity.
Also, a 2009 study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, showed that Botox injections had a similar beneficial effect in adults who suffered from upper-limb spasticity as a result of a stroke.
Raising a child with cerebral palsy is challenging. In many cases, the birth injury was a result of negligence on the part of the doctor or hospital. Your family has rights and may be able to obtain compensation that will assist you with the lifetime financial obstacles of raising a child with cerebral palsy.
For more information, contact an experienced Northern Kentucky birth injury attorney at the law firm of Pschachter, Hendy & Johnson at (859) 578-4444 or (888) 606-5297. - 5 - 10
The plaintiff mother went to the hospital at thirty-six weeks into her pregnancy in May 2000. She was complaining of abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. There was an attempted fetal heart tracing, but no other fetal tests were performed for about three hours. At that time the nurse had trouble obtaining a fetal heart rate and called labor and delivery. A physician then found the fetal heart rate to be thirty and an emergency cesarean section was performed. The plaintiff claimed that the doctors failed to properly monitor the fetal heartbeat. The child suffered cerebral palsy which was attributed to placental rupture. The plaintiff contended that defendant Dr. Rader was informed of the mother's condition about forty-five minutes after her arrival, but did not see or evaluate her. Th eplaintiff also maintained that defendant Dr. Chen was told of the mother's condition about two hours after her arrival, but did not see her. The defendants claimed that the placental rupture occurred only fifteen to twenty minutes prior to delivery by emergency cesarean section. - 6 - 10
The plaintiff mother was admitted to a hospital for induction of labor at thirty-seven weeks gestation in September 2001. The defendant doctor assumed her care toward the end of a long, but relatively uneventful, first stage of labor. After two and one-half hours of pushing, the baby had failed to descend and fetal heart rate monitoring indicated a non-reassuring pattern with frequent severe variable decelerations. There were also indications that the fetal head was overriding the mother's pelvic bone and that the mother's pelvis was abnormally narrow. The physician did not perform another exam for about four hours, by which time the baby's heart rate had become tachycardic. The defendant continued vaginal efforts until the end of his shift. The physician who assumed the mother's care after the defendant immediately ordered a cesarean section. The baby appeared healthy at birth, but by the age of nine months he was noted not to be using his right arm and leg as much as the left. A neurologist determined that the child had suffered a prenatal stroke. A work up found no hypercoaguability, but the plaintiff does carry a genetic mutation which could render him prone to clotting. The defendant claimed that the stroke had occurred weeks prior to labor. The plaintiff claimed that the stroke was not caused by a clot, but by lack of blood flow to the "watershed"area of the brain. The plaintiff claimed that a cesarean section should have been performed much earlier. - 7 - 10
The plaintiff mother was pregnant with a due date of October 22, 1999. She was being treated for gestational diabetes. She was seen by the defendant obstetrician/gynecologist, Deborah Skannal, M.D. about two and one-half weeks prior to her due date. An ultrasound was performed at this time. The mother was admitted to the defendant hospital for induction of labor on the day before her due date as a result of her gestational diabetes. An emergency cesarean section was performed during the evening of the next day. The plaintiff child was hypoglycemic at birth and exhibited seizure-like activity. He was later diagnosed with mental retardation and cerebral palsy. The plaintiff claimed that the physicians and the hospital staff failed to recognize that the ultrasound showed the placental cord around the fetus' neck, which was not relayed to the labor and delivery unit. The plaintiffs also argued a failure to properly interpret fetal monitoring and signs of intrauterine fetal distress and failed to timely perform a cesarean section. The plaintiffs also claimed that the physicians were not timely informed of intrauterine fetal distress. The plaintiffs also maintained that the child was born with the cord wrapped tightly around his neck, but he received no treatment for several hours after birth. The physicians were dismissed from the case and the matter proceeded against the hospital only. The hospital denied any negligence and disputed the nature and extent of the child's disabilities.
- 8 - 10Attorney Ronald E. Johnson of Schachter & Hendy concentrates on legal issues surrounding children's birth injuries.
A recent article published in Injury Prevention found that low birth weight babies who were born to African American or Native American mothers were at a higher risk of serious problems.
The study analyzed infant birth and death data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 1989-1991 to look at any linkage between race and birth weight problems with babies.
The study found that very low birthweight babies were at an increased risk of both homicides and unintentional injuries within the first year of life. The research found that among 10.7 million births during 1989–91, 821 homicides and 2,397 unintentionaldeaths were reported in infants.
According to the article, mong the results they found was the fact that Mexican-American babies were at the lowest risk of homicides or unintentional injuries, but as the birth weight went down, the chances of homicides or unintentional injuries went up.
The article also states that relative to whites, African Americans were at highest risk for homicides and Native Americans at highest risk for unintentional injuries.
Researchers concluded the study in Injury Prevention by calling for more research and analysis of these risk factors and race effect. This new research could identify the risk factors with different race groups. This data might help researchers recommend prevention methods to help reduce the risk of homicides and unintentional injuries for low birth weight babies of many races.
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Schachter, Hendy & Johnson, Attorneys At Law
909 Wrights Summit Parkway
Suite 210
Fort Wright, KY 41011
Phone: (859) 578-4444
Fax: (859) 578-4440
Toll Free: (888) 606-5297
Get Directions
Schachter, Hendy & Johnson, Attorneys At Law
909 Wrights Summit Parkway
Suite 210
Fort Wright, KY 41011
Phone: (859) 578-4444
Fax: (859) 578-4440
Toll Free: (888) 606-5297