Tag: birth defects

Cerebral Palsy Attorneys Win Large Verdict in New York State

In New York State, a tremendous verdict was awarded recently to a 24 year old woman who suffers from Cerebral Palsy.

Cerebral Palsy Results After Prolonged Oxygen Deprivation

new jersey philadelphia cerebral palsy attorneys win big verdict new yorkTiffany Busone and her mother sued the Bellevue Maternity Hospital (now known as the Bellevue Women’s Center) for negligently delivering Tiffany on July 15th, 1984. Tiffany was deprived of oxygen for nearly 15 minutes while doctors failed to properly resuscitate her. She now suffers permanent brain damage because of it.

The Saratoga County, six member jury, made up of three men and three women, unianimously agreed to award Tiffany the $43.5 million dollar verdict. The money breaks down to $20 million for home health aides, $15 million for future pain and suffering, $6 million for past pain and suffering, and the remainder for medical expenses and loss of wages.

Tiffany will always require a wheel chair, home health aides, special medical equipment, and, despite her above average intelligence and bachelors degree from Arizona State University, will never be able to hold a job to support herself financially. Her lack of motor skills and permanent brain damage will render her unfit for the workforce.

This verdict will serve to support Tiffany and her mother, who cares for her, for the rest of Tiffany’s life.

Cerebral Palsy Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If your child suffers from a birth injury or defect such as cerebral palsy, it may be due to medical malpractice or negligence. Contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. The medical malpractice and cerebral palsy attorneys at the Mininno Law Office are here to answer any questions that you may have regarding your legal rights. You can also call at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Cleft Lip: The Importance of the Upgraded Pregnancy Warning

The drug Topamax, commonly used for treating seizures associated with epilepsy and preventing serious migraines, may also raise the risk of oral birth defects during pregnancy. Oral birth defects that can be triggered by the use of Topamax include cleft lip and cleft palate. This news comes after the Food and Drug Administration released a new warning regarding the highly popular drug.

Increased Warning on Topamax Label

new jersey philadelphia Cleft Lip Lawyers importance upgraded pregnancy warningAs data from studies shows the possible correlation between Topamax and cleft lip, the FDA states that there will be a stronger label on the product. The pregnancy category of the drug has been changed. The warning will now show Topamax in category D, as opposed to its former spot in category C. There has been positive evidence of fetal risk in human beings, which is the reason for the change of category.

During the first trimester of pregnancy, if the lip or palate fails to fuse together, cleft lip or cleft palate defects may occur. The degree and seriousness of the defect can widely vary. Defects can be as minimal as simply a small notch in the lip, to a more dramatic occurrence of a groove that spans the roof of the mouth and nose. More serious cleft lip issues may lead to problems with speech, eating, and the possibility of ear infections.

Cleft Lip Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If you were recently pregnant and your child has had a birth defect, it is possible that you may have some questions. Please contact the Mininno Law Office for any questions regarding cleft lip, Topamax use during pregnancy, or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Birth Defect Lawyers: Pregnant Women May Need Medical Alternatives

Following its inception and FDA approval, Topamax quickly rose to the top of the food chain. Birth defect attorneys note that the drug quickly became one of the most commonly prescribed pharmaceutical drugs to prevent migraines in the industry. Topamax is most frequently used to treat epilepsy and migraines. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration has categorized Topamax as a drug that can potentially present significant and unnecessary harm to a human fetus, potentially leaving expectant mothers in search of an alternative.

Women are Especially Susceptible

new jersey philadelphia birth defect lawyers pregnant women risk increase topamaxWomen frequently use Topamax because they are much more likely to suffer from severe migraine headaches as opposed to their male counterparts. In fact, women are three times more likely than men to encounter migraines. Women who are looking to become pregnant face an additional risk. In their childbearing years, the likelihood of headaches increases yet again, making women of this age extremely vulnerable. Therefore, it is quite understandable that many women would turn to a well respected product, such as Topamax, to alleviate pain. The problem that has now surfaced is that Topamax has been linked to certain birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate. Although Topamax is a proven commodity that deals well with ailments such as epilepsy and migraines, the risk of potential birth defects in pregnant women may lead them to search for alternatives. The FDA and birth defect lawyers both agree, Topamax should not be prescribed for pregnant women in most cases.

Birth Defect Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If you recently had a child who was born with a birth defect and you suspect it may be attributed to your use of Topamax during pregnancy, you may be entitled to compensation. For questions about birth defects or potential legal action, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation, or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Birth Injury Lawyers: Why Neonatal Testing Should Be Mandatory

In March of 2008, National Public Radio ran an interview with Elizabeth Weil about her New York Times Magazine story “A Wrongful Birth?.” The interview and article surround the story of a family who received substandard , prenatal care from their obstetrician, which ultimately led to birth injuries and defects.

Physician Negligence Leads to Substantial Verdict

Their son AJ was born with an easily detectable, yet extremely rare condition, which will lessen his life expectancy and leave him mentally and physically challenged throughout his shortened lifetime. The family sued their doctor, who should have made them aware of the condition before the third trimester (once abortion is not longer an option), and was awarded by a New York State Court the money to care for the child for his lifetime. While the award was a substantial sum of money, the costs for raising such a disabled child for his lifetime will be substantial as well. Consequently, New York does not legislatively allow the awarding of damages to the parents for the trauma resulting from such malpractice.

Weil’s article and interview are very interesting and educational. Unfortunately, she jumps over the most important issue in all of this. At one point, she writes,

“The ethics of selective abortion are being hashed out in the courts.”

Earlier, in her interview, she also explains that the parents of the child started the malpractice lawsuit, because they felt that,

“they were deprived of that choice”

to terminate pregnancy. The issue in these cases is not whether the courts are hashing out our national ethics. If anything, it would be the politicians who have carved out our ethics for us. From abortion to drugs, the politicians decide what is OK and what is not OK. Here, the politicians have decided that we all have the right to a choice. They have not decided whether or not it is OK to terminate a pregnancy based on whether or not the child is blind, or deaf, or retarded, or disabled. None of this is decided for us. The courts have not hashed this out for us. The point is whether or not we get to make these decisions for ourselves. We pay doctors for a particular type of care and if it is not received – depriving us of the choices we are guaranteed in this country – than this is malpractice.

What people choose to do with the information given to them by their doctor is their choice. There is no place for ethics in a debate about whether or not doctors should have any control over neonatal testing, because this type of medical malpractice can lead to the sickness and death of our children.

Birth Injury Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadephia

If your child was born with irreversible damages caused by negligence of a physician, you may have a claim for damages. For more information, please go to the New Jersey Medical Malpractice Attorneys page. You may also contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation, or call at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Secondhand Smoke a Major Player in Birth Defects and Stillbirths

new jersey philadelphia birth injury attorneys secondhand smoke pergnancyAs reported by TIME.com,University of Nottingham reporters recently published a review paper that highlighted results of a number of previous studies which suggested that exposing nonsmoking pregnant women to secondhand smoke increases the risk of a stillbirth by 23%. Passive smoking increases the risk of congenital birth defects by 13%. The paper, an analysis based on data retrieved from 19 previous studies, is scheduled to appear in the April issue of the medical journal, Pediatrics.

Simultaneously, researchers tried to link secondhand smoke with miscarriage and unexplained infant death, but were not able to find any correlations. They were also unable to determine during which stages of pregnancy secondhand smoke was most dangerous.

Interestingly, the study stated that the source of secondhand smoke in 5 of the 19 studies was the baby’s father. The paper went on to promote quitting during pregnancy:

“These results highlight the importance for smoking prevention and cessation to focus on the father in addition to the mother during the preconception period as well as during pregnancy.”

The paper’s author, Jo Leonardi-Bee, said that more research is necessary to determine whether fetal effects take place because of the mother’s inhalation of smoke, or because smoking effects the father’s sperm. She also states that these results are based on a minimum of 10 cigarettes a day, but that in the best interest of health, quitting is the best option.

Birth Defects Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If your child was born with a birth defect, or suffered from any type of birth injury, and you believe it is due to malpractice or negligence, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation, you may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Let the birth injury lawyers at the Mininno Law Office work to earn you the compensation you need and deserve.

Birth Injury Attorneys Warn Against the Use of PPIs During Pregnancy

A study of 200,000 women in 2010 has revealed that women who take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) during the first trimester of their pregnancy are twice as likely to deliver babies with birth defects than women who have not taken the drugs.

PPI’s Can Cause Cardiac Defects

new jersey philadelphia birth injury attorneys warning PPIs during pregnancyPrescription proton pump inhibitors include Nexium, Dexilant, Prilosec, Zegerid, Prevacid, Protonix, and AcipHex. Current over-the-counter proton pump inhibitors include Prilosec OTC, Zegerid OTC and Prevacid 24HR. The drugs are approved to treat disorders like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), stomach and intestinal ulcers, and esophogeal inflammation.

The study was executed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, and led by Dr. Andrew D. Rhim. Rhim commented on the research he and his collegues presented at Digestive Disease Week just a year ago:

“We feel that our data … can have a large public health impact given the fact that GERD is so common during pregnancy.”

GERD is, in fact, very common during pregnancy, as 50% of women will suffer acid reflux during the gestational period. And while the prescriptions help an uncomfortable and painful condition, their safety regarding fetuses has never been definitively determined. As a class, PPIs work by stopping the release of stomach acid, which, without the assistance of a PPI, can rise up the esophagus and cause what we all know as the sensation of “heartburn.” A number of infants whose mothers took the heartburn medicines were born with cardiac abnormalities that included septal defects, left ventricular defects, and right ventricular defects.

Rhim offered an alternative to PPIs, after releasing the results of his study:

“One way to use this data to impact care would be to make sure that if physicians see pregnant women who complain [about GERD], they make sure those women are taking folic acid. That’s the only thing we know of that can decrease the risk of having a baby with cardiac birth defects.”

Birth Injury Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If your child was born with a birth defect, or suffered birth injury due to delivery room negligence, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia. Let the birth injury lawyers at the Mininno Law Office work to earn you the full and fair compensation you need and deserve.

Birth Injury Attorneys Win Large Verdict for New York Family

Recently, a New York jury awarded a family $510,000 after negligence in the delivery room led to birth injury, oxygen deprivation, and brain damage for young Xzavier Hyman.

Doctor Veers from Standard of Care and Causes Permanent Damage

new jersey philadelphia birth injury attorneys large verdict NY familyDr. Paul Heltzer and the Staten Island University Hospital were found responsible for the speech probelms, learning disabilities, and reduced life expectancy that Xzavier now faces due to the extended period of time he went without oxygen on the day of his birth.

Dr. Heltzer broke Xzavier’s mother’s water prematurely, while labor was still progressing quite slowly. He then administered dosages of the drug Pitocin, which is used to induce contractions and help begin labor. The suit claims that Dr. Heltzer kept the mother on Pitocin for far too long, causing excess stress on the baby as a result of relentless contractions. The contractions caused an increase in pressure on the baby’s brain while oxygen and blood flow to the brain slowed, and eventually, Xzavier’s heart stopped.

Xzavier’s mother was in labor for 19 hours, and was on Pitocin for a majority of that time. It was determined that Dr. Heltzer and the Staten Island University Hospital acted negligently in allowing her to remain on the drug for so long. It was also determined that a C-Section should have been executed as opposed to waiting for a vaginal delivery. A lot of the complications Xzavier deals with today could have been avoided had the standard of care been adhered to.

Birth Injury Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If your child is dealing with complications that stem from a birth injury they received, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may be entitled to compensation for the negligence that caused their injuries. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Let the birth injury lawyers at the Mininno Law Office earn you the compensation you need and deserve.

Birth Injury Attorneys Get Wind of Life Saving New Technology

A new and experimental technology being used in neonatal units across the country is helping reduce the occurrences of birth injury and permanent brain damage in babies who are deprived oxygen during child birth.

Umbilical Cord Compression Causes Oxygen Deprivation; Cooling Blanket Turns Everything Around

Sara was in the middle of a very difficult labor with her sixth child, Yehuda, when the umbilical cord became compressed and he was no longer receiving oxygen. At that point, it became a necessity to remove Yehuda from the birth canal as quickly as possible; so quickly, that even a C-Section would have taken too long.

With the use of forceps, the doctor was able to extract Yehuda, but the infant was limp and unresponsive. He had little to strength, and the outcome looked grim.

new jersey phildelphia attorneys birth injury saving new technology
Infant being treated with brain cooling.
A few hours later, Sara and her husband were offered a new option, one that had only been used on a child at the Hackensack University Medical Center once before; a new technology called cooling therapy. The therapy involved wrapping the infant in a cooling blanket to lower his temperature. The theory is that lowering a newborn’s temperature will slow the brain’s metabolism, brain inflammation, and the release of harmful toxins that can occur after brain injury. Slowing the process is key, as oxygen deprivation takes an extended period of time to do most of it’s damage.

For three days, Yehuda remained in the cooling blanket. After the treatment, “He was amazing,” his mother said. He had minimal bruising on his head, and other than that, was a healthy baby boy.

And while not all babies will respond as Yehuda did, many lives can be saved with this new and quite safe technology.

Birth Injury Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If your child suffered a traumatic brain injury due to negligence in the delivery, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia. Let the birth injury lawyers at the Mininno Law Office work to earn you the full and fair compensation you need and deserve.

Birth Injury Attorneys Sue Texas Hospital For Negligence

new jersey philadelphia birth injury attorneys sue texas hospital negligenceThe Columbia Medical Center of McKinney (MCM) in McKinney, Texas is being sued by birth injury attorneys for releasing and sending home a pregnant woman while she was in labor. Plaintiff Wendy Cherry filed the birth injury lawsuit in February, seeking compensation for damages related to her early release that forced her to deliver her daughter Emma at home.

Cherry reported to MCM on February 4th, the day she had gone into active labor. She told staff members she was suffering from a “sudden onset of severe pelvic pain.” She requested treatment for the symptoms, but was released without a proper medical screening, and without being stabilized.

Upon her return home, her labor continued, and she eventually gave birth, fortunately, with the help of EMT’s. The delayed delivery resulted in injury to her daughter Emma, and Cherry and her attorneys believe that had she been properly cared for at the hospital, no injuries would have been sustained. Plaintiff seeks damages for medical expenses, past and future pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of familial consortium, and physical impairment.

Birth Injury Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

To think that a hospital staff could not recognize that a pregnant woman was in labor is quite scary. The Columbia Medical Center failed miserably in it’s duty to provide safe and attentive care to it’s patients. The fact that Wendy Cherry was so quickly discharged and sent home to give birth in her house is shocking and, to a certain extent, confusing. How is it that no one thought that a pregnant woman suffering a “sudden onset of severe pelvic pain” was in labor? Hospitals have become frightening places, and something must be done to assure that the care they are providing is in indeed the best they can provide.

If you or a loved one have suffered medical malpractice, or your child suffered a birth injury, at the hands of negligent medical providers, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation, or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Let the birth injury lawyers at the Mininno Law Office earn you the full and fair compensation that you need and deserve.

Birth Injury Lawyers: A FDA Warning For Pregnant Women

new jersey philadelphia birth injury lawyers warning pregnant woman taking antipsychoticsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration, (FDA), recently updated labeling for antipsychotics to alert female users in their third trimester of pregnancy that use of the drugs could have adverse effects on their fetuses, causing birth injuries or defects. A few of the drugs now displaying the warning label include Risperdal, Seroquel and Invega. The drugs are used to treat mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, or depression.

A statement released by the FDA said:

“Healthcare professionals should be aware of the effects of antipsychotic medications on newborns when the medications are used during pregnancy. Patients should not stop taking these medications if they become pregnant without talking to their healthcare professional, as abruptly stopping antipsychotic medications can cause significant complications for treatment.”

Birth Injury Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If your child suffered a debilitation birth injury at birth and you are now faced with expensive treatments that will be necessary for the rest of your child’s life, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia. The birth injury lawyers at the Mininno Law Office are skilled and experienced when it comes to earning full and fair compensation for victims of delivery room negligence and/or birth injuries.

Let the Mininno Law Office team earn you and your family the compensation you need and deserve.