Millions For Child With Seizures & Intellectual Disabilities Caused By Mismanaged Fetal Growth Restriction & Delayed Delivery
Award-Winning Birth Injury Lawyers Helping Children Affected by Fetal Growth Restriction & Birth Injuries such as Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE), Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Delays, Intellectual Disabilities & Seizures | Serving All 50 States
The birth injury attorneys at Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers obtained millions of dollars for a little boy who has intellectual disabilities and seizures caused by mismanaged pregnancy and delivery conditions, including fetal growth restriction (FGR).
This case involved a mother who was high risk because of long-term high blood pressure (chronic hypertension) and being over the age of 35. One of the potential problems for a baby born to an older mother who also has hypertension is fetal growth restriction. Despite knowing the mother had multiple risk factors for FGR, the prenatal care clinic failed to perform basic tests to determine the baby’s height and well being, and the clinic failed to monitor the baby. The baby ended up being growth restricted, which can present problems during delivery because a baby with FGR has a hard time tolerating labor due to decreased fetal reserves. Had the prenatal clinic made the diagnosis of fetal growth restriction the baby would most likely be fine today. Instead, this important diagnosis was missed, which meant the little boy was not delivered in a timely manner. The delayed delivery resulted in the newborn having a brain bleed that required a head shunt. He currently has intellectual disabilities and breakthrough seizures which will affect him for the rest of his life.
When Reiter & Walsh received the call from this young boy’s mother, Jesse Reiter and his team got to work right away, ordering all the child’s medical records so they could learn the extent of the brain injury, pinpoint the causes of the damage, and understand how the intellectual disabilities and seizures will affect the boy’s life now and into the future. The lawyers also spent a lot of time getting to know the little boy and his family so they could fully understand the child’s lifelong needs.
When this mom was asked what advice she would give to other victims of birth injury, she said,
“Call ABC Law Centers first! They are real! They care! They are very kind people. They love to help their clients. They take ownership of clients like its their own. You initially talk to a “real” attorney when they say they are going to ‘help you.’ They will help no matter how long it takes. They are always there. They fought for my son who couldn’t fight for himself.”
Birth Injury Cases are Complex and Require the Skill of Experienced Birth Injury Attorneys
Once Jesse’s team of birth injury attorneys fully understood the boy’s brain injury and what caused it, they began to speak with the nation’s best medical experts and life care planners. Enlisting the help of leading medical experts is critical in proving a case, and life care planners help determine the cost of lifelong treatments, therapies, and housing and educational needs.
Armed with their meticulously researched and well-supported information on the little boy’s negligent care, Reiter & Walsh’s attorneys got the hospital to settle with the family for millions of dollars. This will help the child get all the treatments and therapies he needs for his seizures and intellectual disabilities, and it will help him get the most advanced housing and educational assistance.
In her discussion of the case, the mother said that one of the best parts of her son’s settlement was knowing that her child,
“can receive the best education, the best therapies, the best options, and anything he needs.”
BIRTH INJURY ATTORNEYS PROVIDING PERSONAL ATTENTION FOR EACH & EVERY CLIENT
Many attorneys who describe themselves as “medical malpractice” or “birth injury” attorneys actually refer the cases to other lawyers and then collect the fees. At ABC Law Centers, the attorneys focus solely on birth injury cases and have a special understanding of the needs of the children and families they help. The firm’s attorneys take the time to get to know each child and family and are available around the clock to speak with them.
In describing Jesse and his team, the little boy’s mother said,
“They actually embrace their clients and family with love and support. They keep their word. They keep you informed about the case. They are reachable. There was no time that I called that I didn’t reach my son’s attorney. I was never sent to a voicemail to leave a message. They accommodate whatever your shortcomings are. They had a sincere interest to meet their client, my son.”
Physicians Do Not Usually Admit that Medical Negligence Caused a Birth Injury
It is important to note that physicians and medical staff rarely admit that negligence occurred during labor and delivery. When parents ask if their child is okay, physicians sometimes tell them that it is too early to tell and they’ll have to wait and see. Or, when a birth injury is evident near the time of birth, physicians might tell parents that conditions, such as a brain bleeds, were a just a complication of a standard procedure.
“My son was born with an intracranial brain bleed. One of my coworkers told me to seek legal help because I was frequently going back and forth to the hospital, leading me to call off work multiple times. I initially called [another firm] but the lawyer I spoke to was so mean over the phone. I then went into the yellow pages and came to ABC Law Centers. I was transferred to Mr. Jesse Reiter. He listened to me and said he was going to help me. He was very compassionate over the phone.”
The mother in this case was going to the hospital multiple times, yet the physicians never hinted that her baby’s brain bleed could’ve been caused by medical mistakes. Although this mom was treated rudely and dismissed by another attorney, she persisted and found Jesse Reiter. Jesse and his team have a history of taking cases that other attorneys turn down – and they win millions of dollars for these clients.
Indeed, birth injury cases are some of the most complex, and handling these types of cases takes a great deal of skill. Children with birth injuries often need a lot of resources because treatment and therapy can last a lifetime.
Common birth injuries include:
- Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). HIE usually involves damage to the basal ganglia, cerebral cortex or watershed regions of the brain, but it sometimes includes periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
- Neonatal encephalopathy
- Permanent brain damage
- Seizure disorders
- Cerebral palsy (CP)
- Intellectual disabilities
- Developmental delays
- Motor disorders
- Microcephaly
- Learning Disabilities
- Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
What are the Causes of Birth Injuries?
A birth injury is an injury with long-term consequences that a baby sustains during or near the time of birth. Often, the injury occurs during the process of labor and delivery. Sometimes, however, a birth injury can occur before birth, and it can be caused by negligent prenatal care, such as failing to diagnose a potentially harmful medical condition and/or failing to schedule early delivery of the baby. Birth injuries can also occur after birth, in the neonatal ICU. NICU birth injuries are frequently caused by failure to properly help a baby who has breathing problems or seizures, or failing to adequately treat jaundice or low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
The boy in this case had an intracranial hemorrhage (brain bleed) which caused reduced blood flow in the brain (ischemia). When ischemia occurs, the baby’s heart tracings will typically be abnormal or non-reassuring. The medical team must then quickly deliver the baby – usually by emergency C-section – to minimize the brain injury that can be caused by an intracranial hemorrhage and ischemia.
Hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) can lead to brain bleeds during delivery. Like ischemia, hypoxia causes the baby to have an abnormal heart rate, which requires prompt delivery. Hypoxia and ischemia typically occur together. Hypoxia causes ischemia and ischemia causes hypoxia.
Listed below are some conditions that can cause birth injuries such as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy:
- Placental abruption
- Umbilical cord problems, such as a nuchal cord (cord wrapped around baby’s neck), umbilical cord prolapse, short umbilical cord and cord in a true knot
- Ruptured uterus
- Preeclampsia / eclampsia
- Placenta previa
- Anesthesia mistakes, which can cause blood pressure problems in the mother, including a hypotensive crisis. This can greatly decreases the supply of oxygen-rich blood going to the baby, causing birth asphyxia.
- Oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid)
- Premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) / premature birth
- Prolonged and arrested labor
- Intracranial hemorrhages (brain bleeds), which can be caused by a traumatic delivery. Forceps and vacuum extractors can cause brain bleeds. Sometimes intense contractions (hyperstimulation) caused by labor induction drugs (Pitocin and Cytotec) can cause head trauma. Mismanagement of cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD), abnormal presentations (face or breech presentation), and shoulder dystocia also put the baby at risk of experiencing birth trauma and birth asphyxia.
- Hyperstimulation caused by Pitocin and Cytotec can also cause oxygen deprivation that gets progressively worse.
- Fetal stroke
- Postmaturity syndrome
- Placental insufficiency and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Babies with IUGR / FGR do not tolerate labor well.
- Fetal stroke
- Postmaturity syndrome
- An infection that travels from the mother to the baby at birth, such as chorioamnionitis, Group B Strep, urinary tract infections (UTI) and bacterial vaginosis (BV), which can cause sepsis and/or meningitis
- Failure to quickly deliver a baby when fetal distress is evident on the fetal heart rate monitor (delayed emergency C-section)
- Improperly treated high bilirubin levels (jaundice)
- Improperly treated neonatal hypoglycemia
- Mismanaged breathing problems after birth, such as failing to properly intubate and place baby on a breathing machine (ventilator); untreated apnea or respiratory distress; improper settings on the ventilator, which can cause overventilation injuries such as prolonged hypocarbia
Award Winning Birth Injury Attorneys Helping Children for Almost Three Decades
If you are seeking the help of a birth injury attorney, it is very important to choose an attorney and firm that focus solely on birth injury cases. Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers is a national birth injury law firm that has been helping children with birth injuries for almost 3 decades.
Birth injury attorney Jesse Reiter, president of ABC Law Centers, has been focusing solely on birth injury cases for over 28 years, and most of his cases involve hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy. Partners Jesse Reiter and Rebecca Walsh are currently recognized as being two of the best medical malpractice lawyers in America by U.S. News and World Report 2015, which also recognized ABC Law Centers as being one of the best medical malpractice law firms in the nation. The lawyers at ABC Law Centers have won numerous awards for their advocacy of children and are members of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BTLG) and the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ).
If your child was diagnosed with a birth injury, such as cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder or hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), the award winning birth injury lawyers at ABC Law Centers can help. We have helped children throughout the country obtain compensation for lifelong treatment, therapy and a secure future, and we give personal attention to each child and family we represent. Our nationally recognized birth injury firm has numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements that attest to our success and no fees are ever paid to our firm until we win your case. Email or call Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers at 888-419-2229 for a free case evaluation. Our firm’s award winning birth injury lawyers are available 24 / 7 to speak with you.