Access To Justice

Babies conceived using common infertility treatments face an increased risk of cerebral palsy, according to a new study.

The study found that children conceived using assisted reproduction were twice as likely to be diagnosed with cerebral palsy as other children, according to a Reuters report. The findings suggested that the increased risk for cerebral palsy could be attributed to the higher rates of multiple birth and preterm delivery associated with children conceived through infertility treatments.

Reuters reports that the researchers say the findings make the case for implanting fewer embryos in a woman in order to reduce multiple births and early delivery – and the risk of cerebral palsy.

However, the study also noted that the absolute risk of having a baby with cerebral palsy was very low for couples undergoing treatment for infertility.

To learn more about cerebral palsy and other birth injuries, visit our resource center.

A Milwaukee mother and her young son, who suffered brain injury during his delivery, were awarded $23.3 million in damages by a jury in a recent medical malpractice case, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The jury ruled against Dr. Donald Baccus and the Injury Patients and Families Compensation Fund but cleared the hospital, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, of any negligence in the case, according to the Journal Sentinel.  The award will compensate Kishia Lee and her son Laron Birmingham for medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of income, and personal loss.

Birmingham, who has cerebral palsy, was delivered by a medical resident using forceps after a prolonged labor by his mother, according to news report. The plaintiffs contended that the forceps damaged the child’s brain during the process and that Baccus should have instead done a Cesarean delivery once Lee began having problems.

The Journal Sentinel reports that Baccus will appeal the verdict.

If you believe your child’s birth injury was caused by medical negligence, we may be able to help.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is teaming up with private agencies to make things a lot more clear for expecting mothers, with a brand new program called the Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program or MEPREP.

A Dec. 30, 2009 FDA news release reveals that the federal agency is going to work with several other groups including Kaiser Permanente, Vanderbilt University, and the HMO Research Network Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics (CERT).

The result? More about the risks of using specific drugs during pregnancy.

Margaret Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs, has stated that MEPREP will “guide regulatory policy and influence medical practice.”

Prior to this new program, the FDA relied on a “grade” system for determining the risks of various pharmaceuticals for pregnant women. This grading system often left many questions about whether a medication represented an acceptable risk for any given patient.

Grassroots pregnancy advocacy groups are duly positive about the FDA decision.

“It needs to be done,” posted jeannesager on Jan. 4, on the parent advocate blog StrollerDerby, dubbed ‘The Mother of All Parenting Blogs.’

Other big advocacy blogs are looking forward to the change, as are some of the main participants.

Vanderbilt online sources show that William Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Pediatrics, has been selected as the principal investigator representing the school’s involvement in the program.

“This [MEPREP] will allow us to look at exposures we would never have been able to study before,” said Cooper in December, according to the internal news release.

Reports also quote Gerald Dal Pan, M.D., director of the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, saying that MEPREP will “provide valuable information for physicians and patients” about using various drugs during pregnancy.

The MEPREP program is a valuable New Year’s present to American families. The hope is that this new initiative will make talking to doctors about drug regimens for expecting and new mothers more concrete, and help to prevent some of the range of birth injuries and birth defects that can be caused by side effects of some pharmaceuticals.

Learn more about birth-related  injuries at our ChildRC Blog.

News developments that we’ll be watching at Sokolove Law:

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to study how medications taken in pregnancy affect mothers and their unborn children, according to a report from Reuters. The new study will be called the Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program. Two-thirds of mothers-to-be have used at least one prescription drug during pregnancy, according to the FDA. There are few clinical trials that test the safety of medications in pregnancy due to concerns about the health of the mother and child.

A class-action lawsuit filed in Manhattan’s Federal District Court last week alleges that some New York debt collectors are using “fraudulent documents to surreptitiously win court judgments – all without the debtors’ knowledge,” writes The New York Times. The paper reports that use of the practice has been spurred by the recession and the rise in consumer debt actions.

Recent Recalls

General Motors announced a January recall of 22,000 Chevrolet Corvettes after finding problems with their removable roof system, writes The Burlington County Times. The recall applies to 2005-07 model year Corvettes and Corvette Z06 models. According to the article, GM told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the adhesive between the roof panel and the frame may separate, allowing the roof to come off while driving and posing an accident risk. GM will install a redesigned roof panel as a result. The automaker issued a similar recall in 2006.

Make personal safety one of your resolutions in the New Year. As always, Sokolove Law is here to help.

News developments that we’ll be watching at Sokolove Law:

Radiation from computerized tomography or CT scans performed in 2007 will cause an estimated 29,000 cancers that will result in the deaths of 15,000 Americans, warns a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Two-thirds of the projected cancers will occur in women, one-third in people ages 35-54 at the time of their CT, and 15 percent in children or teens, according to a Reuters article. About 70 million CT scans were done on Americans in 2007.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled millions of Roman shades and blinds today after receiving reports of several strangulation deaths in young children. CPSC has received reports of five deaths and 16 near strangulations, since 2006, in Roman shades, and three deaths, since 2001, in roll-up blinds. The CPSC and the Window Covering Safety Council are working to provide repair kits for the recalled shades, which were sold by retailers including Wal-Mart, Pottery Barn, Ace Hardware, West Elm, The Land of Nod, and JCPenney.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton will carry the ball in a class-action lawsuit against Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd., says a blog post at The Times-Picayune. Knauf is a Chinese company that made drywall that is believed to be corroding homes and making people sick. Payton, the suit’s lead plaintiff, was one of the first in Louisiana to link media reports of defective Chinese drywall to his family’s health problems and the failure of electrical and other equipment in his home. It is estimated that at least 550 million pounds of Chinese drywall has been imported into the United States since 2006 — enough to build 60,000 average-size homes.

Resolving Paxil lawsuits has cost GlaxoSmithKline almost $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg News report that cites court records and people familiar with the cases. This figure includes $390 million to settle suicide or attempted suicide cases linked to the anti-depressant drug, and $200 million to settle Paxil addiction and birth-defect cases. Bloomberg says Glaxo declined to confirm the $1 billion figure. Paxil went on the market in 1993.

Nursing home administrators in Illinois may soon face tougher disciplinary sanctions in cases of patient harm in their facilities as state officials push to improve elder safety. The Chicago Tribune writes that administrators are now seldom punished by the state entity charged with licensing them and other professional nursing home staff, despite reports of elder abuse.

Keep those you love protected from harm. At Sokolove Law, we’re here to help.

A new study by the Center for Disease Control has found a link between common antibiotics and birth defects.

The study is the first large study of antibiotic use by pregnant women, and it found that two types of antibiotics were linked with a higher risk for several birth defects: nitrofurantoins and sulfonamides, sometimes called “sulfa drugs,” which are prescribed for urinary tract and other infections. It was the first time an association had been seen between urinary tract treatments and birth defects. What’s worse is that the antibiotics in question pre-date the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are therefore not subject to the same rigorous review used for newer antibiotics.

The full results of the study are published in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (subscription required).

Bacterial infections can cause health problems for a fetus say medical experts, and it is not uncommon for women to be treated for urinary tract infections during pregnancy, but researchers urged women to consult carefully with their doctors before taking antibiotics.

According to the Associated Press, the study found that:

“Birth defects linked to sulfa drugs included rare brain and heart problems, and shortened limbs. Those linked to nitrofurantoins (ny-troh-fyoor-AN’-toyns) included heart problems and cleft palate. The drugs seemed to double or triple the risk, depending on the defect.”

The study did find that penicillin appears to be the safest antibiotic for use during pregnancy.

According to the AP, the FDA has has proposed changes to prescription drug labeling that would require more complete information for women of childbearing age, pregnant women and those who breastfeed. As always with potentially dangerous drugs the questions comes down to whether patients were adequately warned about potential negative side effects.

For more information on birth defects, visit the CDC. For information on your legal rights related to dangerous drugs, visit our website.