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Recent Blog Posts
Can I Sue a Doctor for Failing to Vaccinate My Infant?
A delivery room in an Illinois hospital’s maternity ward is a joyful but chaotic place during and after childbirth. So many things are happening at once, and while most doctors and nurses do an excellent job of managing their responsibilities to a mother and newborn, some medical practitioners fail to do so. In the hubbub of an infant’s post-delivery care, hospital staff may forget to administer vaccines, an essential line of defense against serious illnesses for newborns.
Infants, whose immune systems are underdeveloped and require assistance to fight off many potentially fatal illnesses, can be seriously injured and even killed without proper vaccination. If your infant fell ill and you believe your doctor failed to vaccinate him or her, read on.
Which Immunizations Are Standard in Illinois?
Children are subject to a rigorous vaccine schedule as part of routine childhood healthcare. Immediately after birth, infants are given Hepatitis B and vitamin K shots. Over the next year, children also receive vaccinations against:
When Do Birth Injury Symptoms First Appear?
Birth injuries in Illinois children may only take a brief moment to occur but they can be an ongoing source of parental stress, developmental challenges, and medical expenses for many years and even for a child’s entire life. Sometimes, signs that a child has suffered from a birth injury may be immediately present; other times, symptoms do not appear until a child has gotten old enough for certain developmental delays to become clear.
No matter when a birth injury becomes apparent, obtaining proper treatment is essential for avoiding long-term complications that may affect a child forever. Here are common symptoms of birth injuries that can appear in different stages of childhood development. Even if you are unsure whether your child may be manifesting symptoms, get a professional opinion so you can take action if necessary - and then contact an experienced Illinois birth injuries attorney who can help you hold the responsible party or parties accountable.
Can Epilepsy Be Caused by Birth Injuries?
Generally, our brain uses its electrical signals in an organized fashion, sending messages from one part of the brain to another and allowing us to move our limbs, talk, think, and carry out daily activities. However, for people who have epilepsy, seizures are caused by sudden, uncontrolled bursts of electrical activity within the brain, causing normal thought patterns and certain physical functioning to shut down until the seizure ends.
The causes and severity of epilepsy can vary dramatically. Some people have mild seizures from time to time while others experience severe seizures much more often. While the exact cause of epilepsy is sometimes unknown, certain birth injuries during pregnancy or childbirth can make seizures more likely throughout a child’s life.
What Kinds of Birth Injuries Cause Seizures?
Some of the conditions that cause seizures are inevitable, even with the best medical care. Others, however, occur because of careless or negligent behavior on the part of doctors, nurses, or midwives. Birth injuries that may cause seizures include, but are not limited to:
What is the Difference Between a Birth Injury and a Birth Defect?
Parents of children who have been injured or killed during a traumatic childbirth in Illinois are often left reeling and desperate for answers to difficult questions. How did this happen? Could it have been avoided? Is anyone responsible? Determining answers to those questions can be quite difficult, especially because it is not always immediately clear whether the child is suffering from a birth injury or a birth defect. While these terms sound similar, they describe very different issues, and it is important to understand what each means as you seek a resolution for your and your child’s suffering.
What is a Birth Defect?
A birth defect is a congenital abnormality that can occur for several reasons, all of them having to do with the genetic development of an unborn infant. A birth defect can happen for no apparent reason; sometimes when genes copy themselves, they make small mistakes that can lead to tragic consequences. Other times, a birth defect happens because of a parent’s exposure to substances, such as alcohol or cigarette smoke, that cause a developing infant’s genes to change and function incorrectly. Examples of common birth defects include, but are not limited to:
My Doctor Says We Experienced Shoulder Dystocia During Childbirth. What Does That Mean?
Pregnancy and childbirth present significant health challenges to both Illinois mothers and their infants. While many things have the potential to go wrong, most children are born safely and in good health. Unfortunately, there are occasions where either the mother or child is injured for a variety of reasons; sometimes, these birth injuries cannot be helped even with the best medical care. However, other times, injuries are caused or worsened because a mother’s obstetric team fails to appropriately respond to medical emergencies. One such emergency is shoulder dystocia, a condition in which one or both of an infant’s shoulders become stuck during labor. To learn more about shoulder dystocia and its consequences, read on.
What is Shoulder Dystocia and How Does it Happen?
Usually, an infant’s head is the most difficult part of the body to push out of the vaginal canal during labor. Once the head emerges, the shoulders and the rest of the body generally follow right away. Sometimes, however, one or both shoulders can become stuck in the mother’s pelvis.
What Kinds of Birth Injuries Can Be Caused by Pitocin Induction?
When a pregnant woman prepares to give birth, her body releases a hormone called oxytocin. While oxytocin plays an important role in developing feelings of love and bonding in mammals, it also makes the uterus contract during labor. Strong, regular uterine contractions are essential not only for pushing out the baby, but also for ensuring the entire placenta is expelled and preventing postpartum hemorrhaging.
When labor is prolonged, or if it has not started at all, there can be health risks to the mother and the infant. To speed up labor, sometimes a drug known as pitocin can be given to the mother. Pitocin is a synthetic drug that mimics oxytocin, and while it is usually used without harmful effects, it can cause serious problems to an infant if it is used incorrectly. If your infant has been injured because of pitocin, consider speaking with a birth injuries attorney as soon as possible.
Are Leg Lengthening Treatments Effective for Children with Cerebral Palsy?
Because of the complexity and unpredictability of symptoms of cerebral palsy in young children, parents often struggle to manage the various treatment options and their effectiveness. Research is continually being done on how cerebral palsy can be treated and managed and one treatment that may be helpful for some children whose cerebral palsy has caused a leg length discrepancy is leg lengthening treatment. Research has shown that leg lengthening treatment can be an effective way to manage the difficulties of a leg length discrepancy, but it also has serious risks and parents should consider this option carefully before committing their child to this procedure.
What Are the Symptoms of a Leg Length Discrepancy?
Leg length discrepancies resulting from cerebral palsy exist at birth, but often do not become apparent until a child is old enough to move by herself. They may be difficult to diagnose because a discrepancy may be small enough to be unnoticeable but still cause significant delays in walking, running, and jumping.
Common Health Challenges in Children with Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a complex group of disorders caused by brain damage that has a wide variety of symptoms. Usually, the damage that causes cerebral palsy occurs during early development before a child is born. However, sometimes cerebral palsy can result from medical malpractice during birth because of issues like delayed delivery, improper use of assistive tools like forceps, and breech birth. If you recently found out that your child has cerebral palsy, you may want to know more about what this diagnosis might mean for you and your loved one. Here are some of the most common medical issues that children with cerebral palsy may have.
Difficulty Swallowing (Dysphagia)
Dysphagia is difficulty swallowing caused by weakness or dysfunction of muscles involved in the swallowing process. Dysphagia can occur in the back of the throat or lower down in the esophagus. Children with dysphagia often struggle to chew, feel pain when they swallow, or get food stuck in their throat. Dysphagia can be painful for children and frightening for their parents because it can be difficult to diagnose and treat unless it presents with other symptoms. Depending on the severity of the condition, a feeding tube may be necessary to ensure a child gets their nutritional needs met.
Can Mental Health Medication Cause Birth Defects?
Depression and anxiety are extremely common in Illinois residents, with more people than ever now seeking therapy and medication to treat these disorders. Living with depression and anxiety can be crippling, and finding out you are pregnant can increase your nervousness and worries. Balancing a mother’s health and wellbeing with potential risks to a developing fetus can be tricky, and this is perhaps never more true than when a doctor is giving a pregnant mother medication.
While most medications for depression and anxiety are safe for infants in utero, some medications have side effects that may cause serious harm to a developing baby. Doctors sometimes have to make difficult choices about medication, the mother’s health, and the infant’s risk of developing birth defects. When a doctor is careless or negligent about writing prescriptions for a pregnant mother, they may make medication errors and the effects on a baby can be devastating.
Could My Premature Infant’s Death Be Caused By Medical Malpractice?
Infants who are born prematurely face a challenging set of health and developmental hurdles that their fully-developed peers do not. Doctors, nurses, and other neonatal care staff must provide the highest standard of care to ensure that prematurely born babies are given the tender care and cautious monitoring that they need during this fragile stage of life. Unfortunately, carelessness or negligent mistakes can contribute to neonatal injuries and death, leaving bereaved parents with an overwhelming feeling of confusion or loss.
Negligence and Neonatal Intensive Care
The vulnerability of prematurely born infants naturally exposes them to risks and dangers. Sometimes, even with the best care possible, babies are seriously injured or die. But when doctors and other medical providers make ICU errors, parents may be able to recover damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Common examples of neonatal ICU errors include:
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