Month: March 2017

klumpke’s palsy

Posted on by YostLaw

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report there are 3,952,841 babies born each year in the United States.  Approximately one in every 1,000 of these births result in an injury to a baby’s brachial plexus – a webbed network of five nerves located below the neck and above each shoulder.  The brachial plexus controls movement and the sense of touch in the fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders. A brachial plexus injury may be the result of a medical provider’s mistake.

If the baby weighs too much (macrosomia) or has shoulders too wide for the birth canal (feto-pelvic disproportion), the baby’s shoulder can get caught (shoulder dystocia) on the mother’s pelvic bone during vaginal birth. When this happens, the baby’s head presents but the baby’s body does not descend through the birth canal.  Shoulder dystocia is an obstetrical emergency that requires immediate, safe and appropriate procedures to gently free the baby’s shoulders and deliver the baby.  If the doctors, nurses or other medical providers apply too much pressure (e.g., fundal pressure or lateral pressure) and/or pulling (traction) to the baby’s head, neck, arm and shoulders during delivery, the baby can suffer a brachial plexus injury such as stretching, tearing, rupture or avulsion of one or more of the five nerves which form the brachial plexus.

Different than Erb’s Palsy, which affects the upper brachial plexus nerves (specifically C5, C6 and C7), Klumpke’s Palsy results from an injury to the two lowest brachial plexus nerves (C8 to T1), which are responsible for controlling movement of the hand and forearm muscles. Therefore, while Klumpke’s Palsy and Erb’s Palsy can be caused by the same type of medical mistake, they’re still two very different injuries.

Symptoms of Klumpke’s Palsy include:

  • Claw hand
  • Drop wrist
  • Paralysis in the forearm and hand
  • Numbness in the forearm and hand

Treatment is limited for this type of hand and forearm injury. Surgery is recommended for damaged nerves that are unable to heal on their own. Additionally, physical therapy will be required. The cost of care for a child with Klumpke’s palsy, or any birth injury, is very high. If your child’s injury was caused by a medical mistake, the experienced Birth Injury lawyers at The Yost Legal Group are here to help.

Call The Yost Legal Group today at 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529) for a FREE, confidential, no-obligation consultation. When you call, you will speak with a Baltimore Birth Injury attorney with real experience absolutely free.

At The Yost Legal Group, you will never pay an attorney’s fee unless we achieve a recovery for you. We don’t get paid until you do.

SERIOUS MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS LINKED TO HERNIA MESH

Posted on by YostLaw

The use of synthetic mesh to repair hernias has caused thousands of patients to suffer from serious medical complications following their hernia surgery. Hernias occur when an organ or tissue pushes through the muscle that normally contains it. Surgical mesh is used to provide support to weakened or damaged tissue.

Several companies manufactured defective a screen-like synthetic hernia mesh containing a type of plastic known as polypropylene, a material that should not have been used.  Polypropylene is not intended for use in permanent medical implants such as hernia mesh.  Polypropylene mesh fibers can cause serious and permanent injuries when they break down and flow to another part of the body. The FDA issued a Safety Communication in 2014 to warn the public about the serious medical problems linked to synthetic hernia mesh, based on reports it received of complications associated with this defective product.

In April of 2016, the FDA again reported on the problems associated with these hernia mesh products, which by that time were no longer on the market.  The FDA identified the most common complications associated with these defective devices to be:

  • Pain (typically near the hernia site)
  • Infection
  • Recurrence (of the hernia, requiring a second surgery)
  • Adhesion (build- up of scar tissue)
  • Obstruction (blockages of the bowel or intestine)
  • Perforation of organs
  • Other injuries to organs, nerves or blood vessels

Numerous scientific studies have now been published which document the problems with synthetic hernia mesh.

The Yost Legal Group is investigating claims involving hernia mesh manufactured by several companies, including Johnson & Johnson, C.R. Bard, and Atrium Medical.  If you or a loved one has suffered serious complications from synthetic hernia mesh, call the Yost Legal Group at 1-800-YOST-LAW (1-800-967-8529).

ERB’S PALSY

Posted on by YostLaw

Welcoming a new baby into the world can be one of the happiest days of your life. The most important and desired outcome on that special day is of course, a safe delivery, free of any harm to the baby and mother.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

A birth injury, characterized by damage to a baby’s brain or body function due to a harmful event that occurred at birth, may be the result of a medical mistake. Erb’s palsy, a disorder sometimes referred to as shoulder dystocia or brachial plexus palsy, is the result of damage to some, but not all, of the nerves which form the brachial plexus, a bundle of nerves responsible for moving the shoulder, arm, wrist and fingers.  Most typically, the Erb’s Palsy injury is a “stretch injury” (neuropraxia), but sometimes the injury involves torn nerve fibers, a completely torn nerve (nerve rupture) or, a nerve root torn from the spinal cord (nerve avulsion).  Erb’s Palsy is very often caused when the baby has been unnaturally or too forcefully pulled, twisted or jerked by a medical provider during the delivery period.

This harmful mistake causes significant injuries to the baby’s neck, injuring nerve roots C5 and C6, with C7 also affected in 50% of instances. Evident signs that a newborn has suffered an injury related to Erb’s palsy are as followed:

  • Inability to move arm or shoulder
  • Arm hangs limp with wrist and hand turned inward
  • Weak or absent reflexes
  • Decreased grip strength

If left untreated, Erb’s palsy may lead to:

  • Partial or full paralysis of arm and shoulder
  • Limited growth of the arm and hand
  • Permanent arm weakness and numbness
  • Deteriorating muscles (Muscle atrophy)

Although it may be possible for Erb’s palsy to resolve completely in the first year the infant’s life, no child should have to experience these devastating circumstances. Furthermore, if proper care is not administered after the preventable birth injury took place, your child may be permanently disabled.

If your child’s injury was caused by a medical mistake, the experienced Birth Injury lawyers at The Yost Legal Group are here to help.

Call The Yost Legal Group today at 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529) for a FREE, confidential, no-obligation consultation. When you call, you will speak with a Baltimore Birth Injury attorney with real experience absolutely free.

If we take your case, our legal team will investigate every detail surrounding your child’s birth injury and will help provide the answers you seek. Lastly, at The Yost Legal Group, you will never pay an attorney’s fee unless we achieve a recovery for you. We don’t get paid until you do.

BLADDER INJURY DURING C-SECTION DELIVERY

Posted on by YostLaw

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reports that Cesarean section (C-section) is the most common surgery performed in the United States. With more than 30% of deliveries resulting in caesarian section, it is important to be aware of childbirth-related injuries to the mother. Although surgery carries risks, bladder injury during cesarean delivery can be a direct result of medical negligence. A negligence claim related to C-section bladder damage may be filed for a number of reasons.

For example, if:

  • Injury, such as bladder laceration and/or ureter transection, occurs during the operation, but is not identified at the time of operation
  • The proper protocol was not taken for a woman who has had a cesarean section before (patients with prior cesarean deliveries are at significant risk for bladder injury at the time of the repeat cesarean delivery)
  • Timing of cesarean delivery was not properly handled by doctors (cesarean section performed at the time of the second stage of labor carries a significant risk for bladder injury)

The most common injury at the time of either obstetric or gynecologic surgery, such as a C-section, is a urologic injury, with the bladder being the most frequently damaged organ. Though not life-threatening when discovered at the time of the C-section, a bladder injury can be an extremely painful and unpleasant experience and lead to permanent injury such as loss of bladder retention, loss of bladder control,  urine leakage and a neurogenic bladder.  Treatment may require continuous bladder drainage through the use of a catheter and subsequent surgical procedures including fistula repair and bladder augmentation surgery.

If the bladder injury caused during a C-section is not discovered at the time of the C-section, the repair of the injury is delayed and this delay can be life-threatening.  If the bladder or ureters have been cut during C-section, serious symptoms will occur within just a few hours following the C-section, including blood in the urine, bloating of the abdomen, abdominal pain, abnormal urinalysis results (elevated BUN and creatinine levels) and infection, including peritonitis and sepsis, may develop.

If you or a loved one has experienced bladder complications during a cesarean section as a result of medical negligence, call The Yost Legal Group right away. If you have been a victim of a medical mistake, there is a limited time to file your claim. Call 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529) today to speak with an experienced Baltimore Birth Injury attorney for FREE.

When you call The Yost Legal Group, Baltimore, Maryland Medical Malpractice and Birth Injury law firm, you will speak with an experienced, compassionate attorney that will help you understand the details of your case and provide the answers you need.

When you trust The Yost Legal Group to represent you, we will never charge an attorney’s fee unless we achieve a recovery for you.

Every mother has the right to a safe, healthy and extraordinary childbirth experience. If your pregnancy had a bad outcome, call The Yost Legal Group today.

 

 

PREVENTABLE MEDICAL MISTAKES IN HOSPITALS

Posted on by YostLaw

Hospital-acquired conditions, also known as “never events”, are particularly awful medical mistakes that should not ever occur. Some examples of these preventable errors include:

  • Operating on the wrong place on the patient’s body
  • Discharging a newborn to the wrong parents
  • Leaving a foreign object, such as a scalpel or sponge, inside the body
  • Mismatched blood transfusion
  • Causing an air embolism during treatment of a patient

Unfortunately, not all medical mistakes are avoidable at all times. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported medical errors account for as many as 98,000 deaths per year. A more recent study specific to surgical errors conducted in 2013, found that more than 4,000 surgical “never events” occur annually in the United States.

Due to the fact that these events are preventable, health care organizations are attempting to get rid of them completely and health insurance providers, including Medicare and Medicaid, are no longer paying for costs related to hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). Also, many of these “never events” are being openly reported by the public. All of these strategies aim to inspire hospitals and medical professionals to accelerate the progress of patient safety.

Never events within hospitals can point to a major safety problem within an organization. It has been reported these error rates are much higher in the U.S. than in other developed countries such as United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Some states, such as Minnesota (the first state to pass a statute that required obligatory reporting), have enacted legislation requiring reporting of hospital-acquired conditions but not all states are required to do so. It has been up for debate whether or not required reporting of HACs has affected how frequently they occur.

As the term “never events” indicates, these events should under no circumstance be occurring however, they continue to occur. If you or a loved one feel you are the victim of a medical mistake contact The Yost Legal Group today at 1-800-YOST-LAW (800-403-7259). When you call, you will speak with an experienced Baltimore Medical Malpractice attorney absolutely FREE.

The attorneys at Yost Legal Group are experienced, caring professionals ready to investigate your claim with compassion and determination. Call us today to receive a free, confidential consultation about your possible case.

At The Yost Legal Group, we will investigate every detail of your situation at no cost to you, and fight hard to ensure that your rights are protected.

We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you will never pay an attorney’s fee up front, and you owe us nothing unless we win your case.

 

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