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birth injuries Tag

Breaking the Silence — And Records — On Birth Injuries

birth injuries

Devastation, disbelief, and apprehension are only a few of the hallmarks of birth injuries. Parents and families of birth-injured infants endure a wide spectrum of unforeseen difficulties and challenging situations, to say the least. Caring for an infant with birth injuries can not only be overwhelming and exhausting, but also highly emotional. Having a variety of support avenues -- including a solid legal one -- is essential. When a doctor, other medical professional, hospital, or birthing facility (or any combination of these) is at fault for a baby's birth injury or injuries, parents may be unsure how to effectively proceed in...

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Miami Attorney Richard “Bo” Sharp Secures Rare $12M Federal Tort Settlement After Baby Went 22 Minutes Without Air

Miami attorney Richard “Bo” Sharp

Original Source: Law.com April 11, 2022 at 07:27 AM by Raychel Lean: Miami attorney Richard "Bo" Sharp has negotiated a $12 million settlement with the U.S. government for the family of a newborn baby who suffered severe brain damage after going 22 minutes without breathing, allegedly because of a nurse midwife’s negligence. It’s one of the largest—if not the largest—Federal Torts Claim Act settlements of its kind in Florida, according to lead counsel Richard “Bo” Sharp of Mallard & Sharp in Miami. Sharp credits his success to depositions, in which a nurse midwife reportedly admitted breaching the standard of care...

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HIE Birth Injuries: Infant Cooling & Medical Malpractice

HIE birth injuries

Among the most traumatic and heartbreaking birth injuries is hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE. HIE is a serious medical condition in which a lack of oxygen to the brain due to insufficient blood flow can lead to brain injury and other organ damage in infants during the perinatal period, which is directly before or after birth. 1 Current medical protocols for HIE birth injury treatment in specific clinical cases include infant "whole body cooling," a form of induced hypothermia.2 The goal of the procedure is to reduce cases of death and disability due to HIE birth injuries. It requires that several...

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Birth Injury Lawyers For Skull Fractures & HIE

skull fractures birth injury lawyer

Among the numerous types of birth injuries are those involving skull fractures. These types of birth injuries are often the result of deliveries that require the use of forceps, vacuum extraction, and/or other instrument-related delivery.1They may or may not involve intracranial injury. In addition, they may result in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a serious form of brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation in the brain.2 Treatment for birth injury skull fractures can include3: Oxygen for breathing supportInterior skull pressure monitoring in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)Blood pressure and heart monitoringIntravenous medications and fluidsReduction of brain swellingSurgeryRehabilitation Unlike many other types of birth...

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Birth Asphyxia and the Newborn Heart

Birth Asphyxia

Asphyxia is a condition in which insufficient blood flow to the brain results in the brain not receiving enough oxygen.1 When this type of oxygen deprivation results in what is known as birth asphyxia in newborns, it can cause damage not only to the brain (in the form of a serious condition known as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE), but also to multiple other organs. This multiple-organ damage can involve the lungs, liver, kidneys, and heart.2 With specific regard to the heart, infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy may have both cardiovascular damage and related circulation problems. 3 Birth asphyxia can be...

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Birth Asphyxia and the Brain: Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

Birth asphyxia

Birth asphyxia is oxygen deprivation that can result in muscle, liver, heart, and brain damage in newborns.1 A variety of conditions and situations can cause Birth asphyxia, from pregnancy to delivery and beyond. It can lead to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, also referred to as HIE, a serious and specifically brain-related birth injury. In cases of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral blood flow is disrupted and not enough oxygen is received by a baby's brain.2 Sadly, birth injuries due to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy often result in death or major long-term disabilities. Depending on the length of time a baby's brain is deprived of...

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Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Birth Injuries: Causes

Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy

Birth injuries in general are devastating. They can leave parents and families reeling with emotion and overwhelmed with questions, concerns, and additional new responsibilities. Having feelings of hurt, anger, and frustration combined with being overcome with learning about treatments and specialized care for a birth injury newborn can lead to exhaustion and more. Parents need support, resources, and guidance, and in most cases that involve birth injury medical malpractice negligence, legal help. Birth injuries related to hypoxia in particular are multi-faced, with the potential to occur before, during, or after birth. Hypoxic ischemic events can lead to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE),...

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Infant Birth Injuries Due To Vacuum-Assisted Delivery

infant birth injuries

In a shift away from the use of forceps during vaginal births, vacuum-assisted delivery of babies has become more prevalent over the past 20 years.1 Unfortunately, this type of infant delivery carries a number of risks, including the potential development of neonatal intracranial hemorrhages, convulsions, or encephalopathy.2 Strict protocol must be adhered to in instances where vacuum-assisted delivery is the procedure of choice. When protocol is not followed, or is improperly implemented, short-term or permanent birth injury may result for the baby, the mother, or both. In situations involving provable medical malpractice negligence with regard to infant birth injuries caused...

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Medication And Malpractice-Related Birth Injuries

malpractice-related birth injuries

Among the various types of medical malpractice-related birth injuries are those involving medications. Such birth injuries can result from overmedication, improper medication, or even a lack of medicating, and can occur at any stage from the onset of pregnancy to the postpartum "after-the-birth" phase. Mother, child, or both may be affected. For example, if a drug is prescribed for a pregnant woman and she has a known but overlooked contraindication to its use that results in harm to her and/or her unborn child or children, the result may be one or more medical malpractice-related birth injuries. In cases involving multiple births, the...

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Twins And Birth Injuries: Is It Medical Malpractice Or Negligence?

twins and birth injuries

By their general nature, births involving twins or other multiples in pregnancy run a higher risk of experiencing birth defects, with one twin often more affected than the other.1 In addition, certain conditions, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a serious, life-threatening form of brain damage that can occur during childbirth, have the potential to be more common among twin births. Further, a rare condition in which twins share the placenta and one twin receives more blood flow than the other, known as twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), can occur, and often presents with devastating consequences.2 But what about when such risk is compounded...

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