Birth Injuries Related to Medical Malpractice, Create a Life-Long Financial and Emotional Challenge for Victims and Their Families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Beverly Hills, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) November 8, 2011 -- A birth injury is one of the most devastating events that can happen to a family. The most serious types of birth injuries are brain injuries. Sometimes these injuries occur not by nature, but through medical negligence. A simple miscommunication between the doctors and nurses, failure to properly monitor a fetal heart rate monitor during labor, or failing to perform a C-Section when necessary, could result in brain damage, Cerebral Palsy and paralysis, as well as a lifetime of resources necessary to care for a victim of medical malpractice.

Dr. Bruce G. Fagel is both a medical malpractice attorney and a licensed medical doctor, and featured in an article by the National Law Journal as one of the top 10 trial attorneys in the U.S. (the only medical malpractice attorney featured). Dr. Fagel is well aware of the pain and suffering, the lifetime of financial resources required, and the amount of time families must provide for a child who suffered a birth injury from medical malpractice. In fact, his law firm, the Law Offices of Dr. Bruce G. Fagel & Associates, has tried and settled more medical malpractice cases for injured parties than any other attorney in California, and has successfully won verdicts or settlements on behalf of hundreds of families whose children suffer a lifetime of disabilities because of the negligence from a doctor, nurse, medical staff, or hospital.

“What most people fail to understand with a severe birth injury is how much the medical costs will be for a family to care for the child. If the child is paralyzed from cerebral palsy for example, this will require a lifetime of medical care and treatment for the victim,” states Dr. Fagel. Statements like this from Dr. Fagel come from decades of experience as both a doctor and an attorney. In fact, Dr. Fagel won a case for a four year old quadriplegic girl, who will be paralyzed for the rest of her life, unable to move from the neck down, because of medical malpractice during her birth. Her injury is similar to the injury sustained by actor Christopher Reeve (famous for his role as Superman) which resulted after he was thrown from a horse.

“In this malpractice case, the doctor used the forceps for over 22 minutes, pulling, tugging, twisting, with four different applications of three different forceps,” comments Bruce Fagel. The doctor was also found to have abused alcohol, cocaine and other drugs during the delivery period. “After the delivery, there was a period of approximately 24 hours in which the two pediatricians had the opportunity to do something if they had recognized what had happened and begun treatment.”

The cost for the young girls’ medical treatment was $25,000 a month; compounded 3% annually, which continues to this day, 20 years later. Dr. Fagel was able to get the largest medical malpractice award in California history, which was $20 million dollars in 1991, whereby the jury projected the total cost of care over her lifetime to be $460 million (this was the largest verdict in the country when calculating total future dollars.)

It is important to realize that a large monetary settlement was necessary, since the doctor filed for bankruptcy and the other negligent parties tried to avoid responsibility for their role in the injury. Doctor Fagel had to pursue the neonatologists and the hospital for their role in the negligence. “If we didn’t pursue all the parties involved in the medical malpractice, this girl wouldn’t have received the money to provide her with 24 hour a day, 7 day a week medical care necessary for her very survival. In fact, despite the claims from the defense attorney that she wouldn’t have a long life-span or the mental capabilities to think like a normal adult, this girl is alive 20 years later and recently graduated from college. This girl was given an opportunity to make the best for herself out of a tragic situation,” states Dr. Fagel.

While most birth injury cases do not make the evening news, the damages the injuries cause to the child and family are life-long and heart breaking. Juries do not always find the doctor or nurses liable, sometimes the hospital itself can be found liable. Take an example of a medical malpractice lawsuit in Contra Costa Bruce Fagel’s law firm handled, involving the paralysis of a new born baby. Although the nurses failed to understand what was happening during the last few hours before the delivery, they found the hospital liable for the negligence. In fact, the jury awarded the family $59.3 million dollars to cover the cost of medical care for their daughter for the rest of her life.

Birth injuries from medical malpractice may occur from trauma, infection, or lack of blood or oxygen to the brain. Hospitals use a fetal heart rate monitor, to monitor the condition of the baby during labor and delivery. Many birth injuries occur because the doctors or nurses fail to correctly read the information from the monitor, notify the doctors of a problem, or take action at the proper time. Birth injuries can also occur if the doctor uses too much force removing the baby from the birth canal, for example, if the baby’s head is too big to fit through the canal, a doctor will need to use a vacuum or forceps to remove the baby. The doctor has to twist and turn and maneuver the babies’ head in relation to the body in order to get the body out. Sometimes when this happens, the brachial plexus, which is a collection of nerves that exit the spinal cord in the neck, and supply the nerve impulses to the arms, gets damaged. These nerves can get stretched, pulled, and sometimes even avulsed, or actually pulled out of their sockets in the spinal cord. When there is an injury to the brachial plexus, then the baby is born with what is called brachial plexus injury or erb’s palsy.

Birth injuries resulting from medical malpractice may include:

Cerebral palsy, which results from a lack of oxygen to the brain of the baby during labor or after the delivery and can result in a lifetime of paralysis.

Mental retardation, which is the legal and medical term referring to individuals with below-normal brain function.

Erbs palsy, also referred to as Lukes palsy and brachial plexus paralysis, which leads to paralysis, loss of muscle control or feeling in the hands and arms, facial paralysis, an inability to sit up, crawl, or use the arms or hands.

High blood pressure, pregnancy-induced hypertension, or eclampsia, not properly monitored, can cause tragic outcomes to both the woman and child.

For more information please visit http://www.fagellaw.com


About The Law Offices of Dr. Bruce G. Fagel & Associates

The Law Offices of Dr. Bruce G. Fagel & Associates specializes in medical malpractice cases resulting in catastrophic injuries. Cases include medical malpractice, surgical errors, birth injuries, brain damage, and cerebral palsy. Dr. Bruce Fagel has tried and settled more medical malpractice cases for the victims of medical malpractice than any law firm in California, including obtaining the largest verdict in California history, $460 million dollars. The law firm has successfully obtained over a billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for their clients.

About Dr. Bruce Fagel

Dr. Bruce G. Fagel is a lawyer and a licensed medical doctor, specializing in medical malpractice and negligence. Dr. Fagel practiced emergency medicine for over 10 years before becoming an attorney. This background provides Dr. Fagel with the knowledge and expertise to represent his clients against negligent doctors and hospitals.

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