A Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help You With a Birth Defect Case
Medication always has a certain effect on your health and your body. If you are on medication during pregnancy, the drug could affect your baby too. The physicians should, therefore, show utmost care while prescribing any medication to women during their pregnancy.
Yet, every year there are numerous cases of medication errors and medical malpractices across the United States. Unfortunately, medication errors may seriously affect both the mother and the baby including various complications that can lead to birth injuries.
The physicians and other healthcare professionals involved in such errors can be held liable for medical malpractices. If you have reasons to believe that your child sustained birth injuries due to medication errors, you must contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer immediately. The medical malpractice lawyers in pa have helped several in safeguarding their rights.
When Do Medication Errors Occur?
Medication errors are very common especially pregnant women may suffer such experience when:
In most of the cases, medication errors occur due to doctor’s negligence or other healthcare provider/s. Due to such errors, serious complications including birth injuries may cause permanent emotional and medical trauma.
Types of Medication Errors
Following are the different types of medication errors that may affect the pregnant lady and her unborn child:
-Recommendations of medicines which may cause birth injuries or medicines that are not tested on pregnant women are unsafe for the expectant mother and the unborn babies.
-Antidepressant medicines such as Paxil and Prozac are majorly related to birth injuries that include:
Various types of anti-cancer medicines, antibiotics, acne medication (Accutane) and anti-seizure medicines (Topomax and Depakote) are also dangerous for the unborn child.
Prescribing a ‘sound-alike’ drug instead of the right medication
Approximately 1,000 drugs have similar names with different uses. For instance, in the year 2009, a woman lost her twin babies as she was given Prostin (a powerful drug forcibly delivers the miscarried child from the womb) instead of a progesterone suppository.
Prescribing wrong medicine due to an inefficiency to read doctor’s handwriting
Despite most hospitals in the USA now have CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry) systems, several pregnant women are still given handwritten prescriptions. If the doctor’s handwriting is unreadable, grave mistakes may take place while administering medication or dosage.
Using medicines for off-label causes
Many doctors use drugs for various other purposes than it was originally approved for. For instance, the drug ‘Cytotec’ was initially approved for treating ulcers with the warning that it may cause early abortions. But many physicians found it more beneficial than ‘Pitocin’ for inducing labor during pregnancy. Cytotec is now administered regularly to induce labor despite its serious complications including death – in babies and mothers.
Anesthesia errors
Most pregnant women prefer receiving an epidural for managing the pain during labor or delivery. An incorrect dosage or the needle inserted in the wrong position of the spine may have a tragic impact on the mother and baby.
Also, the doctors must use utmost care while prescribing the drugs like Pitocin, which have the risks of fetal distress, uterine rupture, and uterine hyperstimulation.
Shoulder Dystocia
When a baby is heavy or the mother has a small pelvic opening, the baby's shoulders may get stuck during delivery. This may become a serious problem if incorrect delivery techniques are adopted resulting in nerve damage to the arm, shoulder, collarbone or hand. If a baby gets stuck for a long time may face oxygen shortage to the brain.
Birth Injuries Owing to Malpractices or Medication Errors
If you find your doctor or the hospital to be negligent, consult malpractice lawyer immediately and file a birth injury case against the guilty. If your baby or you have suffered injuries due to the medication errors, consult an attorney at law who will fight your case in the court and suggest various legal options that would be beneficial for you.
If you've been a victim of medical malpractice, you will require a team of seasoned lawyers by your side to bring the perpetrator to justice. The evidence and the reasoning to back your case should be airtight for you to have a chance to receive the right amount of compensation.
Alvin De Levie can help you with your medical malpractice case. Give us a call at 844-777-2529 to find out how we can help you out during these troubled times.
Alvin F. de Levie is a 1973, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and a 1976 graduate of the Villanova University School of Law. He is an expert in Pennsylvania Law revolving around medical malpractice and personal injury.
Mr. de Levie has consistently been voted by his peers to receive Martindale-Hubbell's "AV Preeminent" 5.0 out of 5.0 rating. An AV Preeminent rating is the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards.
