Scott C. Gottlieb, Injury Law Attorney

During labor and delivery, medical complications can result in birth injuries. Cerebral palsy and Erbs palsy are the most common cases we handle. Doctors and health care professionals must exercise the utmost care to avoid injury to babies during the especially vulnerable times of labor induction, Cesarean section, and mechanically assisted (forceps) births. Babies who experience severe oxygen deprivation to the brain, or head trauma, during these delicate obstetrical procedures often die or face lifelong disabilities. Approximately 10,000 babies each year develop Cerebral palsy (a condition which impacts the ability to control movement) as a result of oxygen deprivation. Oxygen shortage also causes hypoxic-ischemic cephalopathy brain damage. Other types of traumatic obstetric birth injuries include prenatal asphyxia, Erbs Palsy or Brachial Plexus Palsy, Klumpke's Palsy, Torticollis, and Shoulder Dystocia. Fractures, spinal cord trauma, cephalohematoma and intracranial hemorrhage may be the result of preventable obstetrical damage. Common errors for which medical providers may be held responsible are as follows:

- Difficult or prolonged labor (often due to a large baby);

- Failing to detect the umbilical cord wrapped around a baby's neck;

- Unreasonable delay in performing an emergency Cesarean section;

- Failure to test and treat conditions during pregnancy, or misdiagnosis

- Failing to recognize negative fetal signs

Labels: injury, malpractice

Damages resulting from physician error happen more often and can be more extensive than many realize. While doctors' improper diagnoses are seldom intentional, their lack of intent provides little comfort to those confronted with a life-altering judgment of cancer. Misdiagnosed patients are often subjected to unnecessary, harmful, painful and expensive treatments. Untreated cancer can kill, and innocent mistakes can cause curable cancers to remain untreated and dangerous. A cancer misdiagnosis also has the potential to cause victims to develop other physical and psychological conditions that require future treatment - contributing to financial hardship and severely inhibiting the victims' ability to sustain meaningful employment.

Cancer misdiagnosis can most frequently be attributed to:
· A cancerous (or malignant) tumor is identified as non-cancerous (or benign).
· A cancerous lesion is missed in the biopsy procedure.
· Failure to refer a patient to a specialist for further testing.
· A malignant tumor is misclassified as to type or misgraded as to aggressiveness.
· Specimens are mishandled by pathology, or improperly read or interpreted.
· Failure to follow up with a patient if cancer should have been suspected.
· Failure to adequately screen for increased risk patients (age/ethnicity/family or personal history/gender).
· Failure to understand or notice the nature of a patient's complaints.

Labels: injury, malpractice

MANY MALPRACTICE CASES ARE
NOT ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE

Often in our daily practice, we hear of incidents where medical providers have clearly made an error which has caused harm to a patient. These errors are a form of negligence which are commonly known as medical malpractice. However, many of these medical errors have not caused enough harm to the patient to warrant a medical malpractice legal action.

A medical malpractice case is very time-consuming and expensive to put together. It is necessary for us to hire other medical professionals who are willing and able to testify at trial. Additionally, we often need to hire economists and vocational rehabilitation experts to demonstrate how the medical malpractice has impacted the client’s ability to work or perform household duties.

Therefore, it is not unusual for us to spend anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 to prepare a medical malpractice lawsuit. Moreover, these cases may be complicated and therefore require many hours of office time.

Accordingly, we do not recommend medical malpractice actions unless the injury is so serious as to justify the many dollars and hours that it takes to bring it to a successful conclusion.

Labels: injury, malpractice