Did Your Baby Have Jaundice?

Posted on October 8, 2008 by David Austin

Jaundice is extremely common among newborns – about 60 percent of all babies develop the condition, which is characterized by excess levels of bilirubin in the blood. When left untreated for too long, severe jaundice can result in a type of brain damage that causes athetoid cerebral palsy.  

Kernicterus Is Preventable


This type of brain damage is known as kernicterus and it’s completely preventable when jaundice is promptly diagnosed and treated. Over the past decade or so, however, a few factors have led to an increase in the number of kernicterus cases diagnosed each year, including:

  • Shorter hospital stays
  • Relaxed treatment guidelines for jaundice
  • Overall decreased public concern over the dangers of jaundice (largely because it’s so common)


There are a number of signs and symptoms associated with severe jaundice, which parents should be aware of and doctors should identify:

  •  Yellowish-orange skin tone
  • Irritation or fussiness
  • Poor feeding
  • Abnormal muscle tone
  • Sleep problems

 

In addition to cerebral palsy, kernicterus can cause mental retardation as well as hearing, vision and dental problems. This is unfortunate given that severe jaundice is often treatable with simple phototherapy, or a transfusion in more extreme cases.

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$5.5 Million Settlement Reached in Birth Injury Case

Posted on September 25, 2008 by David Austin

A $5.5 million settlement has been reached in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a woman whose son suffered severe brain damage after prolonged oxygen deprivation at birth. The damage has left the boy, now 6, unable to perform basic functions like walking, sitting on his own, feeding and talking.

 

“Seeing how he struggles, seeing him in a wheelchair and not being able to hear him say ‘Mom’ in English or Spanish, it’s painful. We shouldn’t have been going through all of this,” said Eva Liberato, the boy’s mother.

 

According to Liberato’s lawsuit, the baby’s heart rate began to plummet after she was given medication to induce contractions. A family doctor tried unsuccessfully to deliver the baby with a vacuum retractor and forceps before an obstetrician was called to deliver the baby by C-section.

 

A jury found the family doctor liable for the boy’s birth injuries, but the hospital and obstetrician will also contribute to the settlement

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Does 4 Million Equal 45 Million?

Posted on August 27, 2008 by Jim Burke

It would seem  to be true in the case of a young California boy whose troubled birth has left him with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy.  A Sierra View District Hospital  has agreed to a 4 million dollar settlement.  The obstetrician and nurse anesthetist have also agreed to a settlement but the terms of the settlement remain confidential.

Gabriela Enriquez  was admitted to Porterville Hospital on March 19th of 2006 to give birth to her first child, Jose Carrillo.  Bruce Fagel, Gabriela's attorney, said that the baby's monitor indicated that the baby was in distress over the  last several hours of labor but that those indications of distress were ignored by the nurses and obstetrician on duty.  He went on to say that by the time an emergency c-section was ordered the next morning significant brain damage had occurred from lack of oxygen.

According to Fagel, Jose has severe cerebral palsy and, while his doctors believe his intellectual development may be normal, his motor skills are lacking and he will never be able to walk or communicate normally.

Because the hospital district board is a public agency it was required to approve the terms of the settlement even  though the settlement was reached in private negotiation.  A judge also had to approve the settlement because the plaintiff is a minor.

Court records show the Enriquez/Carrillo suit against the hospital also named as defendants Dr. Jose R. Salas, a Porterville obstetrician; Janet Michelle Bailey, a registered nurse/anesthetist; and Dr. Philip Early, head of the hospital's anesthesiology department.

According to records of the Medical Board of California, Salas was placed on probation in 1999 for three years because of an accusation of "gross negligence" and "repeated negligent acts" stemming from a 1995 birth at Sierra View.

So, how does a 4 million dollar settlement become a 45 million dollar settlement?  It doesn't.  The settlement  is still a 4 million dollar settlement but the 4 million dollars will be placed in an annuity designed to provide a monthly income for the rest of Jose's life - to cover his medical needs, home care and therapy.  Over his lifetime that annuity is estimated to pay him about 45 million dollars.

 

 

 

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Largest Settlement in Dekalb County

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Jim Burke

As reported in the Chicago Tribune an Aurora woman has settled her malpractice suit for fifteen million dollars.  Vanessa Jenkins had brought suit against the doctor, hospital and staff alleging that her son Cody suffered brain damage because, during her labor, the doctor used a vacuum device improperly thus causing brain damage.

Her attorneys said that her labor was uneventful until the doctor began to use the vacuum device.  Within a period of 50 minutes the device was used 18 times.  When Cody's fetal heart rate indicated that he was in distress, Cody was delivered by Caesarean section by another doctor.  By then the damage had been done and Cody was left disfigured, brain damaged and incapable of living independently.

The settlement was approved by Judge Kurt Klein in Dekalb County Circuit Court and her attorneys said this was the largest award ever reached in Dekalb County.

 

 

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