Rochester Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The joyous occasion of a birth can quickly turn into a nightmare if something is wrong with the baby. Unfortunately, the error or carelessness of a medical professional often leads to harm such as neonatal seizures. If your baby experienced seizures or is experiencing seizures after birth, you need to reach out to a skilled Rochester birth injury attorney who can assess the merits of your case. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we have helped many families and can help you as well.
A seizure is uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain that generally produces physical convulsion. Neonatal seizures are typically characterized as seizures that take place within the first month of life. Seizures are typically signs of brain dysfunction. In newborns, seizures can be a sign that a baby suffered some type of brain damage. Often, they are the first sign of a birth injury. There are four types of seizures in newborns:
- Subtle seizures: blinking or rapid side-to-side eye movement, leg bicycling, and mouth smacking movements. These occur in about 50 percent of all newborns with seizures.
- Clonic seizures: slow, rhythmic jerking on one side of the body. These make up about 25 percent of all newborn seizures.
- Myoclonic seizures: repetitive jerking or twitching movements. These are the most serious types of seizures and can indicate serious brain damage.
- Tonic seizures: the eye may move upward, and breathing may also temporarily stop. These account for 5 percent of newborn seizures.
Neonatal seizures have a number of causes, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which means the baby suffered fetal distress while in the womb and was deprived of oxygen to the brain. Approximately 80 percent of neonatal seizures are connected to HIE. Other causes may include but are not limited to tachysytole, complications with the placenta or uterus, hemorrhages or trauma to the brain, delayed delivery or C-section, or infections.
When seizures occur in a baby, they must be treated immediately because even a single seizure can cause or worsen brain damage. In fact, seizures can lead to permanent brain damage, such as cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, and developmental delays.
If your child’s seizure and seizure-related injury was caused by a medical professional’s carelessness or misconduct, you will likely be able to recover compensation through a medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice, also known as medical negligence, occurs when a medical professional’s conduct is inconsistent with the standard of care that another medical professional in the same specialty would have used in the same situation, thereby causing injuries to the patient. Put another way, medical professionals must adhere to a strict standard of care during labor and delivery to avoid seizures after a baby is born. When the medical professional deviates from this standard of care, and that deviation is a direct cause of the patient’s harm, the medical professional will be liable.
If you believe that your newborn suffered from seizures due to a medical professional’s negligence before, during, or after labor, we may be able to help. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our seasoned Rochester birth injury attorneys can analyze the facts of your case and help you pursue the compensation you deserve for your harm. Lean more about how we can help you by calling us today at 833-200-2000or contacting us online.
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Nerve Damage Due to Medical Malpractice in Rochester, Rochester Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Blog, May 30, 2018
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Injuries Caused by Faulty Medical Devices in New York: Malpractice or Product Liability?, Rochester Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Blog, May 16, 2018
