A Palm Beach County couple recently filed charges against St. Mary’s Medical Center and it’s staff, claiming her baby has cerebral palsy due to substandard medical care given to the mother while she was a patient there.

The hospital and its staff are facing a birth injury lawsuit due to the mother’s baby sustaining brain damage which led to cerebral palsy due to the delay of performing a C-section on the mother. According to the complaint, the mother also suffered allergies from a de-clotting drug given to her after a blockage was found in the mother’s IV tube.

The parents of the injured baby now seek damages for the baby’s cerebral palsy and related medical expenses.

Sadly, far too many children like this infant develop cerebral palsy as a result of a medical professional’s negligence. At the Driscoll Firm, our legal team works to help families in such a situation obtain the compensation and justice they need after being subjected to such treatment. Call (800) 900-7704 to speak with a representative about your situation.

SimplyThick, a food additive that was until recently used in treating newborns in intensive care units who demonstrated swallowing difficulties, has been linked to infants’ development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening illness that causes severe damage to the intestines. The product, which was popular for the ease with which it can be mixed with breast milk for infants, was widely considered safe for use by the FDA, in spite of a lack of testing, because xantham gum, from which it is made, is generally recognized as safe under FDA guidelines.

However, in 2011, a number of infant deaths caused by NEC which were linked to the use of SimplyThick demonstrated such an unusual pattern that the FDA reconsidered its assessment of the product’s safety, first recommending that it not be given to premature infants, and eventually warning that no infants should be given the thickener. Unfortunately, because of its widespread use up to this point, many children have been exposed to its harmful effects and, as a result, may have developed a serious illness.

In an opinion piece published for CNN this past Friday, Mary Alice McLarty, President of the American Association for Justice, argued that the way to reduce health care costs in the U.S. is to “focus on patient safety efforts” rather than put more restrictions on the rights of patients.

McLarty states that while the medical malpractice industry does cost our country large amounts of money each year, medical malpractice suits are not the main cause of health care costs and medical malpractice problems. Instead, by allowing the nearly 100,000 patients and the families of loved ones affected by medical errors each year to pursue medical malpractice suits against the medical practitioners responsible, the civil justice system is keeping those in the medical field accountable and protecting the rights of patients.

According to McLarty’s piece, preventable medical mistakes are the “sixth leading cause of fatalities in the U.S. and cost our country $29 billion a year.” Thus, seeking caps on medical malpractice claims and reforming malpractice tort law will only limit patients’ rights and cause further harm to Americans.

Suffering from medical malpractice in the form of a birth injury can substantially affect your family. Contact a cerebral palsy lawyer of the Driscoll Firm, to see what legal options you may have if your child has developed cerebral palsy because of a medical professional’s mistake.

A couple residing in Kansas has filed a cerebral palsy lawsuit against the hospital in which their son was born as well as against two physicians who were involved in his birth. The lawsuit states that hospital staff negligence directly led to the couple’s child developing cerebral palsy.

In March 2010, the expectant mother entered the hospital in order to deliver her son. The physicians attempted to induce the woman but failed, so they conducted two different vacuum extraction procedures in order to remove the child from his mother’s womb.

These two procedures failed, so the doctors instead decided to pursue an emergency cesarean section. During the c-section, the mother’s uterus ruptured. The child was believed to have suffered a seizure during this time and was delivered with several birth injuries as a result.

Shortly after being born, the infant developed spastic quadriplegia, which is a serious form of cerebral palsy, and his parents believe that the negligence of the hospital staff directly led to this condition.

September 4, 2012 is World Cerebral Palsy Day. This is the first year that a specific date has been connected to this debilitating condition, which affects approximately 17 million people worldwide.

World Cerebral Palsy Day is dedicated to helping individuals with this condition get their voices and ideas heard around the globe. A website was established for this day in order for people affected by cerebral palsy to discuss how their lives could be made easier.

Cerebral palsy is a chronic disability that affects an individual’s ability to move. This condition can also affect speech and vision. This disability can develop as a result of a birth injury in an infant.

If your child suffers from cerebral palsy due to a birth injury caused by a negligent doctor, please contact the birth injury lawyers of The Driscoll Firm by calling 800-305-9800 today.

Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission have announced the recall of nearly 4 million Baby Bumbo seats after it was discovered that children may be able to wiggle out of the floor seat and potentially suffer head injuries as a result of the fall.

The first recall on these seats was made in October 2007 and resulted in additional warning labels to be placed upon the seats and stated that  placing the seats on raised surfaces may be dangerous.

There have been 50 reports of infants wiggling out of Bumbo seats and sustaining skull fractures as a result. Another 34 reports were made that stated that infants fell out of the seat while it was on the floor and 21 of these infants received skull fractures.

Consumers have been urged to stop the use of the Bumbo seats and to contact Bumbo International of South Africa in order to receive a repair kit that will include a restraint belt. The company has stated that they will be adding the restraint belt to all of the seats as a safety precaution.

If your child has suffered a head injury, contact the Driscoll Firm today by calling 800-305-9800 today.

The cerebral palsy lawyers at the Driscoll Firm are pleased to announce that the Missouri Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling that placed a cap on the amount of damages that can be awarded to victims of medical malpractice.

The change was made after it was determined that placing a cap on damages was unconstitutional because it violated the victim’s right to trial by jury by not allowing the details of a case to determine the outcome.

To read further into the details  of this decision, click here.