The problems surrounding Topamax have been widely publicized in the recent months. The epilepsy and migraine headache medication has been linked to birth defects, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, when taken by women during pregnancy. Aside from the oral malformation, young babies may also experience a number of other significant health problems in their early years. One of the paramount dangers iS potential hearing problems or total hearing loss in young children. Birth defect attorneys stress the importance of seeking medical assistance as soon as possible.
Hearing Impairment Possible in Children with Cleft Lip and Palate
After a child is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate, physicians often seek to limit the potential threat to the hearing and speech abilities of the baby. Birth defect attorneys say that a tympanostomy tube is usually inserted into the child’s eardrum. This tube is readily used to aerate the middle of the baby’s ear. It is the hope of medical physicians that this will allow the hearing ability of the young child to flourish. Although there are different means by which to help with hearing ability, hearing impairment is very prevalent in children with a cleft palate. This is because the eustachian tubes often can not open properly due to issues with the tensor muscle fibers. When these muscle fibers lack an anchor to open the eustachian tubes, the secretion of fluid is possible. As air in the middle ear begins to be absorbed by the mucous membrane, the negative pressure is unable to be compensated for. The result is secretion of fluid in the middle ear space from the mucous membrane. This middle ear effusion could lead to hearing loss in these young babies. Birth defect attorneys say that medical treatment and consultations at an early age will help the child counteract potentially harmful symptoms later in life.
Birth Defect Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your child was born with a birth defect, such as cleft lip or cleft palate, that you believe is attributable to your use of Topamax during pregnancy, you probably have some questions for a birth defect attorney. Please 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.
Milagros Angeles, 62, is being accused of theft by a caretaker, elder abuse, false imprisonment, and being in possession of altered checks. If she is found guilty, Milagros may be facing more than six years in prison. She worked as the caretaker of Navy veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Arnold “Max” Bauer, 93, since 2009. When employees at Bauer’s bank noticed a series of suspicious checks drawn on his account during a 6 month period of absence, they contacted Adult Protective Services. Investigators were sent to check on him. Once in the home, they found that the elderly man was living in “filth and squalor,” with trash, rotting food and rat feces covering the house. According to San Diego Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Varnau, Bauer was found disoriented and dehydrated and “It appears he has advanced Alzheimer’s … He can engage in conversation for a very short period of time and then he drifts off. He is very vulnerable and very much open to being victimized and manipulated.”
Deborah Rutledge was experiencing numbness in her groin, legs, and feet when she went in search of medical help at the Andersen Air Force Base clinic in Guam. A doctor’s assistant and a nurse met with Rutledge but failed to conduct proper medical examinations for the numbness the woman experienced. To compound the problem, the medical professionals did not report the case to their supervisors and instead misdiagnosed what Rutledge was suffering from. Lawyers say that the symptoms persisted, even after an emergency operation. Rutledge continues to suffer today from nerve damage.
Kelvin Washington, 47, who works as an administrator at a Sugar Land nursing home in Texas, was arrested on August 4, 2011 and is being charged with conspiracy, health care fraud and violations of the anti-kickback statute. He is being accused of creating a plan where he billed federal health care programs for ambulance transport and received payments totaling approximately $20,000 for referring the dialysis patients to a Houston ambulance transport service between 2003 and 2007. He allegedly conspired to have unknowing doctors sign transport prescriptions for patients who were never even admitted to the nursing home. Medicare and Medicaid were billed almost $1 million in false health care claims. The maximum penalties for a violation of the health care fraud statue in Texas is a maximum of 10 years in prison. The maximum sentence for a violation of the conspiracy statue or the anti-kickback statute is five years. Each of the 10 counts charged also carry a maximum $250,000 fine as punishment upon conviction.
Initially, Susan Piro cancelled the trip she planned to take to America. However, the vacation became too hard to resist, and Susan departed, leaving her mother behind. Ironically, the point of the excursion was to visit places in America her mother had once lived. Susan’s selfish and clouded judgement have now prevented her from ever being able to share these memories with her mother. 
Creekside Care Center in Stockton, California was fined $100,000 last month following the death of one of their residents. After an investigation from the state, they found that inadequate care led to the victim’s death. The nursing home staff failed to treat her properly after her left thigh bone broke in October 2008. The injury and lack of treatment led to cardio-respiratory distress and her death in the emergency room a few days later.
On average, research has shown that the process to upgrade to pressure-reduction mattresses would cost about 30 cents per patient. This minimal investment would soon pay major dividends in the healthcare world. Professionals project that the reduction in bed sores could save $32 dollars per patient in treatment and care costs. This equation leads to one conclusion, big money will be saved once healthcare costs decrease. Murray Krahn, a principal investigator with the study stated that “pressure ulcers are a huge but under-appreciated problem across multiple settings in our health-care system.” He continued by stating, “though they are not the full solution, pressure-reduction mattresses are an inexpensive and easy way to address the problem.”
Melodee first began experiencing symptoms, such as pain, blood in her stool, and constipation in 2006. After multiple hospital visits, medical professionals diagnosed her with hemorrhoids. It was recommended that the hospital perform a colonoscopy, but the hospital failed to follow up on that procedure or provide any screenings for rectal cancer. Professionals say that the following year, in 2007, Adam Cloer was transferred to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, where his wife would learn that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes because it was not treated in a timely manner. Melodee underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and numerous surgeries to remove her organs, all of which proved to be of no avail. The medical malpractice attorneys working the case stated, 
Sick and elderly citizens that depend on others for care are perhaps the most vulnerable of our population. Unfortunately, this populations is too often taken advantage of. Financial 
When a child is between the ages of six weeks and nine months, surgery is usually done to close the cleft lip. Additional surgery may also be necessary down the road if the cleft has a major effect on the nose and the surrounding area. If the cleft lip can be successfully closed by this initial surgery, it becomes much more likely that the child will have normal speech developments as the aging process continues. During the early months however, a prosthetic is sometimes inserted temporarily to close a baby’s palate to ensure that a baby can receive the proper food and nutrients. When a baby is able to take in the proper amount of nutrients, even with the cleft lip and cleft palate, lawyers say that growth and weight issues are not nearly as likely.