Birth Injury

According to a recent news article, out of every 1,000 babies born in the U.S., six suffer a birth injury. Some of these birth injuries are minor and heal soon after birth, but some are so severe that they affect the child and the child's parents for the rest of their lives.

An example of a serious injury that may heal after continued physical therapy and surgery are shoulder injuries. Sometimes, these shoulder and arm injuries will cause permanent disabilities. A child can suffer Erb's palsy if they experience shoulder dystocia during birth.

Shoulder dystocia occurs when the baby's shoulder gets stuck behind the mother's pelvic bone during birth. If the doctor pulls down on the baby's neck and head to try to release the baby too quickly from the birth canal, it can cause an injury to the nerves in the baby's shoulder and arms.

Another severe injury is cerebral palsy, which can occur if the baby's oxygen supply is cut off during birth and the brain is deprived of oxygen for too long. The symptoms of cerebral palsy can vary, but in the most severe cases, a child may need round-the-clock care for the rest of their life.

Sometimes birth injuries cannot be prevented, but other times they are caused by doctor's mistakes and negligence, or medical malpractice.

If your child has suffered a brachial plexus injury or cerebral palsy you need an experienced attorney to hold the doctors and hospitals accountable for their mistakes.

Kenneth Levine & Associates,  LLC. 32 Kent Street Brookline, Massachusetts  02445 617-566-2700
www.Klevinelaw.com   

How Doctors Defend Against Erb’s Palsy Cases

If your child suffers from Erb’s Palsy, it may seem clear to you that the delivering doctor committed medical malpractice. After all, the shoulder was impeded or stuck behind the pubic bone (known as shoulder dystocia) at the time of delivery, the doctor had his or her hands on the baby, and an injury was apparent to the shoulder and arm—and no other part of the anatomy— immediately after birth.

The attorneys here at Kenneth M. Levine & Associates agree that cases of Erb’s Palsy, or permanent injury to the brachial plexus nerves, are the result of medical malpractice.

Routinely, however, medical malpractice defense attorneys representing doctors and hospitals in Erb’s Palsy cases utilize a stock defense against cases brought on behalf of injured children.

Here’s what they rely on:

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a practice bulletin in 2002 that offers the opinion that approximately 50% of Erb’s Palsy cases occur in the presence of shoulder dystocia and 50% occur without it. Relying upon this source of information, defense attorneys and their experts will claim that the injury occurred naturally as part of the birth, and therefore, the doctor and hospital personnel were not negligent.

At Kenneth M. Levine & Associates, we believe that there are many flaws in this analysis, not to mention that ACOG is a trade group with a bias against medical malpractice cases, and we have convinced juries of this.

It takes an attorney who is knowledgeable about the medical literature regarding Erb’s Palsy to successfully counter the arguments advanced by the defense at trial, or otherwise even the most experienced trial attorney may find him or herself caught by surprise.

Further, depending upon where the birth occurred, the courts of each state have different rules that affect how parties may introduce medical literature and cross-examine experts about it.

The attorneys at Kenneth M. Levine & Associates have an in-depth knowledge about Erb’s Palsy from having litigated numerous cases, enabling us to provide you with the highest level of legal representation.

www.Klevinelaw.com