Articles Posted in Birth Injury

Many hospitals are not privately owned but are actually public corporations. If a child suffers a birth injury due to medical malpractice at a hospital that is a public corporation, different procedural rules apply for pursuing a claim for damages against the hospital. For example, notice of any claim must be provided within 90 days of when the claim accrues. An appellate division of the Supreme Court of New York recently discussed when a plaintiff will be granted leave to file late notice of a claim, in a case arising from a birth injury. If you live in Syracuse and your child suffered an injury at birth, it is important to speak with a skilled Syracuse birth injury attorney regarding your case as soon as possible.

Reportedly, the plaintiff’s mother presented to the emergency department of the defendant hospital on November 23, 2010. She was 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant at the time, and complained of vaginal leakage, decreased fetal activity, and pain. She was examined and then discharged and sent home. Two days later, the plaintiff was born via an emergency cesarean section at the defendant hospital. The plaintiff was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and brain damage due to perinatal and neonatal asphyxiation.

It is alleged that the plaintiff’s father served the hospital with notice of a claim on August 29, 2013, and the hospital acknowledged receipt of the notice. Then, in March 2014, the plaintiff’s father filed a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiff, alleging that the malpractice of the hospital’s employees caused the plaintiff’s harm. Specifically, it was alleged that the hospital breached the applicable standard of care in discharging the plaintiff’s mother when she first visited the hospital. Further, it was alleged the hospital breached the standard of care in failing to deliver the plaintiff via a cesarean section in a timely manner.

Cerebral palsy is a devastating birth injury that can have lifetime consequences for a child. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you have the right to know if it was the result of medical malpractice. Our reputable Syracuse cerebral palsy attorneys will investigate the circumstances of your injury to determine if malpractice occurred.

A jury recently awarded the family of a boy $130 million in a medical negligence case after he suffered severe brain damage at a Detroit hospital, resulting in cerebral palsy. According to the complaint, technicians at the hospital failed to give chest compressions to the boy when it was required and his brain was deprived of oxygen leading to permanent injury. The boy was just two months old when the injury took place in 2006. He is now 12-years-old and requires a lot of assistance in day-to-day life, including needing help getting in and out of the bathtub. The boy’s mother looks after him full time. The jury made its decision after a three-week civil trial. The hospital plans to appeal.

Suing for Birth Injuries

Damage to the developing brain during or after birth can cause cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a broad medical term used to describe many neurological disorders that affect movement and muscle coordination. While the condition does not worsen over time, it can have a costly and lifelong impact on an individual’s life. Cerebral palsy is often the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain at birth, decreased blood flow to the brain, or trauma and hemorrhage can injure the brain tissue.

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If your child suffered birth injuries as a result of fetal macrosomia, you may be the victim of medical malpractice. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our experienced Syracuse medical malpractice attorneys are committed to holding negligent medical malpractice parties accountable for the harm that they cause.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the term “fetal macrosomia” describes a newborn baby that is significantly larger than your average infant. To be diagnosed with fetal macrosomia, a baby must have a birth weight of more than 8 pounds 13 ounces irrespective of the fetus’s gestational age. As you can imagine, a baby this big can create dangerous complications for the birthing process. Fetal macrosomia is hard to detect during pregnancy but the condition can put a child at higher risk of lifelong injuries, including cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, brain bleeds and other traumatic injuries. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that a little more than 10 percent of all pregnancies in this country result in macrosomia.

There are certain signs and symptoms of fetal macrosomia that doctors are trained to recognize. In addition, doctors can detect and diagnose macrosomia through an ultrasound, measuring the abdominal circumference, conducting the Leopold maneuver (i.e., by pushing on a mother’s abdomen) and/or by measuring the pregnant woman’s fundal height.

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Throughout pregnancy, the umbilical cord provides the baby with what it needs to grow properly. If your child suffered an umbilical cord complication due to medical negligence, you need to reach out to a highly skilled Syracuse medical malpractice attorney who is well versed in this area of law. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we are dedicated to holding negligent medical professionals responsible for the harm that they cause. You can rest assured that we will work tirelessly to help you secure the compensation you deserve in your case.

The umbilical cord serves as the lifeline between mother and child, providing essential nutrients and oxygen to the fetus throughout the pregnancy. In short, the umbilical cord is how the fetus is connected to the placenta during gestation. The placenta is the organ in the womb that gives the baby nutrients and eliminates waste products. Umbilical cord problems may put a mother and her newborn child at serious risk. Umbilical cord complications include, but are not limited to:

• Umbilcal cord prolapse and compression;
• Umbilical cord knots;
• Nuchal cord;
• Umbilical cord strangulation;
• Umbilical hernias.

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Wrongful birth actions can be extremely emotional and legally challenging. If you believe you have a wrongful birth case, you need to contact a seasoned Syracuse birth injury attorney who can investigate your situation. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our team is dedicated to protecting your rights at every step of the way. With years of experience, we know how to navigate these claims in a compassionate and diligent manner.

A wrongful birth case is an actionable tort in New York. This claim may arise if you have a child born with a birth defect that could have been detected early in the pregnancy, or that was a condition for which you should have been tested and of which you should have been informed before conception. Put another way, in a wrongful birth claim, parents claim that they would have avoided conception or terminated a pregnancy but for a medical professional’s negligence in prenatal testing, genetic prognosticating, or counseling on the chances of giving birth to a child with a birth defect.

Physicians are expected to provide competent care in both prenatal testing and during pregnancy. There are a number of circumstances that can lead to a wrongful birth. Types of diseases or conditions that are detectible include but are not limited to:

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