ScienceDaily reported in April 2012 that researchers at the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health, housed at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Detroit Medical Center, had successfully used a “nanotechnology-based drug treatment” to dramatically improve cerebral palsy symptoms in newborn rabbits. According to ScienceDaily, “the study is the first to show that an anti-inflammatory drug delivered with a nanodevice can dramatically improve CP symptoms in an animal model.” Researchers now believe there may be a window of opportunity immediately after birth during which drug treatment can minimize the effects of cerebral palsy. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year, 100,000 babies born in the United States develop cerebral palsy, a group of neurological disorders marked by intellectual limitations, hearing problems, impaired vision, behavioral problems, seizures, difficulty speaking, learning disabilities, poor balance and coordination, and muscular deformities. According to…
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Birth Injury and Cerebral Palsy Attorneys Home
Birth Trauma Attorneys Can Help Victims of Vacuum Extraction Injuries
December 17, 2012Using a vacuum tool during delivery is a very risky decision for doctors to make. Two Pennsylvania parents say that doctors made a series of mistakes – including using a vacuum – during their child’s birth that led to his death. Mark and Cheryl Baiocchi filed a wrongful death lawsuit against St. Mary Medical Center, Dr. Traci Cook, the Women’s Specialists of Bucks County and Catholic Health East for medical negligence. Approximately 12 hours after arriving at the hospital, Dr. Cook used a Kiwi vacuum extraction device to remove the child during labor. The doctor used the device multiple times even though it was not necessary, according to the lawsuit. The vacuum raised the child’s heart rate, causing heart tone tachychardia. The child’s shoulder became stuck, causing shoulder dystocia. When he was born, he was “cyanotic, pulseless, apneic and floppy.” Doctors transferred him to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Doctors…
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Trial Program Shows Potential to Reduce Birth Traumas
December 12, 2012Recently, 14 hospitals joined together to enact safety procedures that could reduce birth trauma brought on by hospital mistakes. The early results are extremely promising, according to Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier Inc. Premier Inc. is a “performance improvement alliance” that coordinated the effort through its Premier Perinatal Safety Initiative. “What we see from the data is that there has been a 25 percent reduction in birth hypoxia and asphyxia, which can cause infant brain damage, a 22 percent reduction in neonatal birth trauma and for just these 14 hospital over just this short period of time, there have been 30 fewer babies that have experienced these harms,” DeVore said. Premier provided hospitals with a very thorough list of criteria for physicians to follow. One of the “bundles” established by Premier involved the use of oxytocin. Oxytocin is a drug used to slow labor, and it can lead…
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