Blog Posts - Birth injuries
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Jun 2024
Women’s Healthcare in the Spotlight
In March (2024), President Biden signed an Executive Order with the goal of investing in and improving healthcare for women. In it, he declared that “for far too long, scientific and biomedical research excluded women and undervalued the study of women’s health.” The Order intends to identify areas where women’s health needs are not being met in terms of research; to support and prioritize research;…
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Nov 2022
Ohio Birth Injury Lawyer: Vacuum Extraction Complications
In some cases, obstetricians use vacuum extractors to guide an infant through the birth canal. When they make mistakes, complications from vacuum extraction deliveries can result in brain bleeding, shoulder damage, paralysis, and skull fractures in newborn babies. You trust your healthcare provider to protect your baby from harm as a parent. Sadly, a mistake during your child’s birth can have devastating impacts on your…
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Jan 2021
Numbers Don’t Lie
A recent article in Across Ohio Patch written by Chris Mosby titled, “Black Infants 3 Times More Likely to Die,” shared some disturbing news. At a time when we are reexamining so many of our systems to identify systemic racism, this discrepancy is certainly cause for concern. Ohio Infant Mortality Statistics According to Governor Mike DeWine, reducing infant mortality and its disparate racial impact has…
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Mar 2019
Healthcare’s Role in Our Nation’s Opioid Overdose
From “Pain as the 5th Vital Sign” to Opioid Overdose You go the Emergency Department complaining of the worst headache you have ever experienced. The physician asks only a few questions, performs a cursory exam, and prescribes an injection of Dilaudid (opiate medication) 2 mg IV (intravenous). You are “observed” in the emergency room for 45 minutes. At the time of discharge, you are too…
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Aug 2018
Childbirth: More Dangerous in the US than other Developing Countries
Why are mothers in the United States experiencing traumatic pregnancy and post-partum problems in startlingly higher rates than other developed countries? This shocking statistic has recently come to light, and over the past year, NPR and ProPublica have been investigating this disturbing trend. According to the NPR/ProPublica investigation, for every American woman who dies during childbirth, there are seventy women that nearly die due to…
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Feb 2018
Frequently Asked Questions about Birth Injuries in Ohio
At The Eisen Law Firm, our Ohio birth injury attorneys represent children who were injured at birth due to the negligence of medical professionals. We also represent the parents of such injured children. We hope that you never need our assistance, as we typically handle only birth injury cases that result in catastrophic injury, the kind where you or your child need constant care or…
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Feb 2018
Why Can’t We Stop Life-threatening Childbirth Complications?
When new parents expect children, they prepare for every situation imaginable – from babyproofing the house to planning the best route to the hospital. But, how can they prepare for the unimaginable? Not only are many childbirth complications more dangerous and life-threatening than you may think, they are more common as well. What’s worse, they are on the rise. Severe Maternal Morbidity, Mortality, and Birth…
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Jan 2018
Maternal Weight and the Risk of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a type of neurological disorder that results from a brain injury. Cerebral palsy often results from birth injuries, stemming from harm that occurs while the baby is developing or during labor and delivery. Cerebral palsy largely affects muscle coordination and body movement. For example, muscle tone, reflex, balance, and posture may all be impaired by cerebral palsy. In addition, motor skills and…
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Dec 2017
Premature Babies Find Comfort in the Arms of Crocheted Octopus Toys
Babies born prematurely are at risk for a number of health complications, such as delays in development or cerebral palsy. Additionally, premature birth is the number one killer of newborns. Therefore, any step that can be taken to improve the health of these tiny babies is essential. One hospital in Brazil has discovered that premature babies benefit from a treatment that does not require additional…
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Nov 2017
November is Prematurity Awareness Month
Chances are, you know of someone who was either born prematurely or had a child that was born prematurely. Every year, 15 million babies are born prematurely around the world. Tragically, 1 million of these babies are unable to thrive and pass away from complications caused by prematurity. The United States reports one of the highest rates of premature births of all industrialized nations, with…
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Jul 2017
When Do You Need a Birth Injury Attorney?
Although birth is a natural process, there are dozens of things that can go wrong from early in a mother’s pregnancy to after the baby is born. Typically, with proper medical care, the mother and baby will be fine throughout pregnancy and childbirth. However, there are cases nearly every day where babies are injured due to the negligence of medical professionals. What are some of…
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Apr 2017
A Promising Future for Premature Babies
Premature babies are at risk of developing a number of scary complications. When a baby is born too early, its organs are not fully developed and the baby is not ready for life outside of the safety of the womb. Therefore, it may be difficult for the baby to thrive. In some cases, it is hard to predict whether a baby will be born premature….
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Jan 2017
Forcing Parties to Arbitrate Claims May Weaken Legitimate Claims
Over the last several months, many companies in the San Francisco area received a letter seeking to get them to waive their rights to sue Sutter Health, a network of doctors and hospitals that dominates the market in Northern California. Jennifer Chaloemtiarana, general counsel for Castlight Health, a tech company, was one of the many recipients of such a letter. The letter asked Castlight to…
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Jan 2017
January is Birth Defects Month—and Here’s Why
Birth defects are the leading cause of newborn death in the United States One in 33 babies born in the United States has a birth defect. Birth defects are responsible for one in five infant deaths in the U.S. As we kick off a new year, the Center for Disease Control estimates that 120,000 babies will be born with a birth defect by the…
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Jan 2017
Why Your Baby’s First Test is So Important: The Apgar Test
The Apgar test was first introduced by Dr. Virginia Apgar in 1952. Since that time, it has been used in hospitals throughout the United States to assess a newborn baby’s physical condition at one minute and five minutes after birth. A high Apgar score indicates that the baby is in good health; whereas a lower score means that medical intervention is likely necessary. What…
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Nov 2016
Leading Cleveland Medical Malpractice Law Firm Inspires a New Generation of Patient Safety Advocates
The Eisen Law Firm is offering a $1000 scholarship to a graduating high school senior who creates the most exceptional patient safety advocacy video CLEVELAND, Ohio—The Eisen Law Firm, a prominent medical malpractice law firm, will reward a graduating senior of an accredited Ohio high school a $1,000 scholarship. By engaging students in a creative media production project for the second year in a row,…
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Oct 2016
Steps Towards Delivering a Healthy Baby
Pregnancy is an exciting, but often nerve-wracking, time for women, especially if they are first time mothers. The instant a woman announces her pregnancy, friends, family members, and even complete strangers begin bombarding her with advice on what to eat, what to avoid, how much to exercise, and whether or not she can enjoy her morning cup of coffee. What can a soon-to-be mother do…
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Aug 2016
Can I Get the Zika Virus in Ohio?
Transmission in Ohio doubtful but care still required Cleveland recently came in number 18 in the Orkin pest control company’s latest rankings of the 50 worst U.S. cities for mosquitoes, ranking higher than many cities in Florida, North and South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia. While normally this just means more annoying, itchy bites in the summer months, this ranking is more alarming given the…
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Mar 2016
Premier Ohio Medical Malpractice Attorneys See To It That Children Suffering Birth Injuries Get The Treatment and Therapies They Need
Fighting so families obtain the financial support needed to care for children with birth injuries Welcoming a baby into your home is a life altering event. No matter how much you prepare during the nine months preceding the birth, taking care of a healthy newborn can be overwhelming. Parents of a infant with birth injuries face an even more daunting task, caring for their child,…
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Jan 2016
What to Consider When Choosing a Hospital to Give Birth
Start your selection process early to ensure the best chances of a safe delivery There were more than 3.9 million births in the U.S. in 2013 alone. That means there’s a baby born about every seven seconds! More than 98 percent of these babies are delivered in a hospital. Deciding where to deliver your baby is a big part of choosing your obstetrician or midwife…
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Nov 2014
Detecting Fetal Distress
Detecting Fetal Distress is a Controversial and Imperfect Practice For expecting parents, the health of their unborn child is an omnipresent concern. Many thoughts, prayers, and fears of a family focus on the possibility that something terrible will happen before their new addition arrives. Only parents can fathom the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when a medical professional tells you that…
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Sep 2014
Birth Injuries Often Require a Lifetime of Care
The financial ramifications of raising a child with a birth injury can be very difficult to understand. There’s no question that the medical bills are going to be exorbitant. But what about the other costs of living with a birth injury? These costs may not become apparent right away, but over time they add up. A child who has suffered a serious birth injury (such…
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Apr 2014
Health concern: diabetes diagnosis, treatment in pregnant women
The final stages of pregnancy – i.e., labor and delivery – are a dangerous time for the mother and baby. When things go wrong, it may cause severe injuries to the baby or mom (or both). For instance, failure to recognize and treat signs of fetal distress, and failure to timely determine that a C-section is necessary, may cause oxygen deprivation, which in turn may…
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Mar 2014
Researchers search for answers in string of fatal birth defects
Although rare, a fatal birth condition called anencephaly has drawn the attention of researchers. The reason: 23 cases of the condition were diagnosed in the same geographic region within a three-year period. That translates into an incidence rate that is four times greater than the national average of just 2.1 cases for every 10,000 live births. The condition is believed to result when the neural…
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Jan 2014
Screening test may reduce the risk of birth injuries
A medical malpractice attorney knows that establishing a doctor’s professional duty of care can be tricky when it comes to preventative tests. In the case of pregnancy, for example, a majority of obstetricians routinely screen for gestational diabetes. This preventative screening can alert doctors to a condition that might otherwise lead to complications or birth injuries. It’s also relatively simple: a glucose tolerance test can screen…
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Dec 2013
Plaintiff receives $6.5 million award for birth injury
Readers of this medical malpractice blog who are parents may remember their anxious feelings during childbirth. Even for pregnancies that are progressing without incident, the possibly of a birth injury remains a valid fear. For many parents, words cannot describe their feelings of relief upon hearing their baby’s first cry and having the attending obstetrician announce that they have a healthy baby. Unfortunately, one mother’s…
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Jul 2013
Ohio State settles birth injury lawsuit for $5.25M
Since 1996, Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center has settled a total of 11 medical malpractice cases for $1 million or more, according to data provided by the university. Recently, the second-largest ever malpractice lawsuit was settled for $5.25 million after a child suffered birth injuries that left him with major brain damage. The birth injuries took place in April 2006 after the child’s mother was admitted…
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May 2013
Family hopes son’s birth injury leads to changes in the law
Parents who recently lost a son due to complications resulting from birth injuries are hoping that their tragic story can help prevent the same thing from happening to other families. Many expectant parents throughout the country are choosing home births as an alternative to hospital births, and while there are thousands of safe home births performed each year, the process can also be a recipe…
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May 2013
Pediatricians offer new policy on home birth standards
When it comes to planned home deliveries, the American Academy of Pediatrics has decided that mothers and infants should receive the same standard of care as hospital births. The AAP announced its new policy this month, which it said is “intended to help pediatricians provide supportive, informed counsel to women considering home birth.” The academy – along with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists…
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Apr 2013
Safety initiatives reduce, but do not eliminate birth injuries
Biommon than we would like to believe. Of the 4 million deliveries that occur each year at hospitals throughout the country, roughly 9 percent involve some type of adverse event. What’s more is that about 30 percent of these adverse events are believed to be avoidable. That’s why the Premier Perinatal Safety Initiative (PDF) was developed as a way to tackle preventable birth injuries. Not only…
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Jan 2013
County sued after girl born with birth injury
Far too often, parents throughout Ohio and the rest of the nation are left heartbroken when they find out that a mistake during childbirth resulted in serious or permanent injury to their newborn baby. Sometimes birth injuries result from errors made by hospital staff members during delivery, but other times, birth injuries result from what isn’t done. In a tragic example of this, a Midwestern pregnant woman…
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Oct 2012
The legal aftermath of the deadly meningitis outbreak
In a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak that has plagued the nation, 23 people have died and almost 300 have been infected. What’s worse is that health officials warn the outbreak is far from over as many as 14,000 people may have been exposed to the contaminated steroid injections that have been blamed for the outbreak. The steroid injections, which were used as pain medications, were…
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Aug 2012
State Supreme Court strikes down damages cap
In late March, we wrote about a state Supreme Court case that we thought Ohio readers may be interested in. The case dealt with a Missouri state law that placed a cap on the amount of money victims can receive for non-monetary damages resulting from medical malpractice. Recently, the state’s highest court decided to strike down the law, finding that it violated “the right to trial…
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Jul 2012
Family awarded $55M after child suffers birth injuries
When a mother was told that her son would someday be able to express himself by smiling, she said her initial reaction was: “That’s it?” Two years later, the mother understands how precious that smile really is considering the traumatic birth injury her son suffered. Everything seemed to be going just fine when the woman went into labor at her home with the assistance of a midwife….
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Jul 2012
Pitocin-related birth injury case settles for $3.75M
All too often, a medical mistake made before, during or after birth leaves devastating effects on a infant or the infant’s mother. Sometimes, a hospital or staff member is liable for the birth injury and can be sued for damages. Recently, a Midwestern family was awarded $3.75 million after their infant son suffered brain injuries five years ago. According to the family, the mother was at the end…
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Mar 2012
Medical malpractice cap challenged in state Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Missouri will soon decide whether a state law that places a cap on the amount of money victims can receive for damages from medical malpractice violates the constitution. Similar laws have been enacted in other states – including Ohio. The Court’s decision will have a far reaching impact, which could lead to challenges to similar state laws around the country –…
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