Proving Medical Malpractice When Negligence Results in Cerebral Palsy
The various forms of cerebral palsy represent the most severe birth injuries that a newborn can survive. The disabilities that will challenge a child for life are both physical and developmental. In many cases, an experienced medical malpractice attorney, working closely with medical experts, can show that the various injuries and disabilities associated with cerebral palsy resulted from negligence during delivery or prenatal care.
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Contact the Boston cerebral palsy birth injury attorneys at the law firm of Kenneth M. Levine & Associates. We offer free consultations for parents nationwide and all over Massachusetts, and we only collect an attorney's fee if we recover financial compensation for you, through settlement or jury verdict. Our clients find that we not only keep them closely involved through every stage of the case, but that we can also assist with access to the resources and networks that can support you as the parents of a child who will need a lot of help growing up.
The term cerebral palsy can apply to any of several forms of infant brain damage that generally result from a period of interrupted oxygen supply during a difficult delivery. Birth hypoxia, or inadequate blood oxygen to the brain for even a few minutes, often reflects a medical professional's failure to monitor fetal vital signs during labor or delivery. It can also reflect a doctor's failure to respond quickly or effectively to such problems as the wrapping of the umbilical cord around the neck of the fetus.
Fetal Heart Rate
Fetal Heart Rate analysis is the prime means by which a fetus is evaluated for adequacy of oxygenation, and knowledge of its rate and regulation are thus of great importance to the obstetrician. The FHR monitor is a device with two components; one recognizes and processes the heart rate, an d the other recognizes uterine contraction. The external means of monitoring is through a belt on the mother abdomen. The external monitor is not exact as it can slip off or come loose. The internal means of detecting FHR consists of a small electrode to the fetal scalp. This mode gives the most accurate FHR tracing because of the directness of the signal. The internal lead also provided information about beat to beat variability, and important factor to consider when evaluating a FHR strip.
Hypoxia
As a fetus lacks oxygen due to decreased oxygen consumption, a process calls metabolic acidosis occurs. Due to the lack of oxygen in the blood lactic acid accumulates. This accumulation causes the blood to become acidotic and which can often be measured by a test that measures the pH level of the blood. The idea that the lower the pH, the more acidotic the blood and the more profound the lack of oxygen and the longer the body has lacked oxygen. Checking the pH of the fetus during labor from a blood sample from the fetus' scalp will provide this information almost exactly. body/brain of a pediatric patient is affected by hypoxia and how hypoxia of long-standing duration leads to brain and physical damage. An in adequate supply of oxygen causes, and in Elvis Demars' case caused, multiple physiologic responses aimed at optimizing oxygen delivery to the tissues.
There is a correlation between the length of the duration of the hypoxia and the extent of the eventual brain and physical damage. Hypoxia leads to eventual physical and brain damage.
At Kenneth M. Levine & Associates, our medical malpractice lawyers know how to investigate the causes of cerebral palsy that apply in your situation. By the time your legal complaint is ready to file, we will have a sound understanding of the mistakes that were made at various points of prenatal care, labor, anesthesia or delivery. Our ability to develop and present the evidence of negligence and damages can protect your right to full compensation for a tragic chain of events during childbirth.
For additional information about our approach to client service and experience with the litigation of cerebral palsy birth injury claims, contact Kenneth M. Levine & Associates in Brookline.
