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“More than 31,000 babies were born prematurely last year,” said Syracuse birth injury lawyer Michael A. Bottar, Esq., an attorney with Syracuse-based Bottar Law, PLLC, a team of attorneys representing families throughout New York who have a baby diagnosed with a disability after being born early.

“That means that 12% of infants born in this State are born early.” According to the 2010 March of Dimes Premature Birth report card released last week, New York received a “D” grade because the New York preterm birth rate was greater than 11.3% but less than 13.2%. Premature birth is one of the leading causes of death in newborns, as well as other lifelong health problems including cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, gastrointestinal problems, intraventricular hemorrhaging, respiratory problems, retinopathy of prematurity, blindness and deafness.

Where physicians and nurses fail to protect an unborn baby from the risks of being born early, or from the injuries that may accompany a premature birth, permanent injuries may follow. “While our Syracuse New york birth injury attorneys understand that it is not possible to eliminate preterm births, medicine has advanced to the point where there are modalities available to lessen or mitigate harm.”
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Upstate Cerebral Palsy, a private not-for-profit based in Utica, New York, recently announced the availability of inclusive preschool programs through six New Discoveries Learning Centers in Utica, Barneveld, Rome, Chadwicks and Clinton.

Inclusive preschool programs usually consist of 3-5 year old children, half of whom are typically developing and half of whom are “special needs.” Special needs may include learning disabilities, profound retardation and/or cerebral palsy, as well as terminal illnesses and psychiatric problems. According to Utica birth injury lawyer Michael A. Bottar, and attorney with Bottar Law, PLLC, a law firm with nearly three decades of experience handling New York birth injury lawsuits, “research suggests that inclusive preschools help special needs children with development because they are in close, direct contact with other children who may act as behavioral role models. At the same time, these children can receive essentially therapy.”

Special needs children come from all walks of life. Some children with special needs suffer from unavoidable birth defects, while others are disabled because they sustained brain damage during birth and were born with low APGARs following fetal distress marked by prolonged fetal heart rate decelerations. No matter what the cause of a child’s disability, it is well known that early intervention with speech, physical and occupational therapy, as well as child peer contact, can accelerate development.
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Syracuse birth injury lawyer Michael A. Bottar, Esq., an attorney with Bottar Law, PLLC, a team of New York cerebral palsy attorneys, reports that the findings of a new study suggest that children born at night are at greater risk for being diagnosed with “neonatal encephalopathy,”

“Neonatal encephalopathy is a rare brain disorder marked by symptoms including abnormal consciousness, tone, reflexes, breathing and feeding. It can lead to cerebral palsy or epilepsy,” said Bottar. According to a study published in the November edition of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, babies born between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. were 22% more likely to experience a brain problem. The study examined more than 2,000,000 births over a period of 14 years.

Prior studies have linked birth injuries to night time deliveries, with some suggesting that medical residents (i.e., new doctors), tired obstetricians, and understaffed hospital labor and delivery units may contribute to New York labor and delivery complications, including fetal distress, low APGAR scores from hypoxia and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, which may form the basis of a New York birth injury lawsuit seeking compensation for permanent disability, such as cerebral palsy or persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN).

Conditions like cerebral palsy and PPHN typically are caused by an injury to the infant’s brain that can occur before, during, or shortly after birth. When a baby’s brain does not receive enough oxygen, it can sustain permanent damage that can lead to seizures, global developmental delays, cognitive impairment, loss of vision, and other life-long disabilities.
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On August 24, 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a company owned by Johnson & Johnson, issued a recall for its ASR XL Acetabular System and its DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System because of higher than average revision rates, discussed in detail here on our website, and in our blog post entitled Syracuse DePuy ASR Hip Implant Lawyers Review Timing of Recall In New York.

New York defective DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuits are soon to follow. According to a Medical Quack press release, two days before DePuy announced the recall it sent a letter to orthopedic surgeons to alert them of the impending recall. Apparently, the letter was accompanied by an informational packet and a medical release form for doctors to provide to the patients who received DePuy implants. The Medical Quack press release also reported that DePuy offered orthopedic surgeons $50.00 for every medical release signed by one of their patients.

The Syracuse defective implant lawyers at Bottar Law, PLLC, want to know why, if true, there is a need to compensate surgeons for securing patient medical records. “We strongly encourage patients with a DePuy hip to avoid signing that form,” said Anthony S. Bottar, Esq. a New York defective hip recall lawyer with Syracuse-based Bottar Law, PLLC. Bottar is a DePuy hip recall lawyer with experience handling other mass tort cases. “By signing that form, a patient gives DePuy the right to review all of the patients confidential medical records and x-rays. It may even give DePuy the right to take control of the explanted hip device after a revision surgery.”
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Premature birth is a very serious problem because preemies are at high risk for permanent disability, including lung disease, cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness. According to Anthony S. Bottar, a Syracuse birth injury lawyer representing New York children diagnosed with cerebral palsy following a complicated labor and delivery, “approximately 10% of babies born prematurely will have a permanent disability.”

“Preterm births occur in 12% of pregnancies,” Bottar added. November is prematurity awareness month. During prematurity awareness month, many local organizations including Binghamton-based Mothers & Babies, partnered with the March of Dimes to raise awareness about premature birth injuries caused when a baby does not reach 37 weeks of gestation (the threshold for prematurity).

A baby born between 35 and 37 weeks is considered “moderately premature.” A baby born between 29 and 34 weeks is considered “very premature.” A baby born between 24 and 28 weeks is considered “extremely premature.” Extremely premature babies face the greatest challenges. Approximately 17% of babies born at 23 weeks will survive. At 24 and 25 weeks, approximately 39% and 50% will survive, respectively.

Of children born before 26 weeks, statistical disabilities include: 22% severe disability (cerebral palsy but not walking, profoundly low IQ, blindness and/or deafness), 24% moderate disability (cerebral palsy but walking, special needs IQ, some visual or hearing impairment), 34% mild disability (low IQ, slight vision deficits), 20% no problems.
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Bottar Law, PLLC partners Edward S. Leone and Anthony S. Bottar recently resolved a Syracuse birth injury lawsuit for $3,250,000.00 which, after investment in annuities, will provide the plaintiffs with nearly $9,000,000.00 in compensation should the infant plaintiff live to age 74.

Like most of the Firm’s New York birth injury lawsuits, the plaintiffs alleged that a group of medical defendants, including an obstetrician and a hospital (through its labor and delivery nurses and medical residents), were negligent in their collective (1) failure to diagnose fetal distress and (2) respond by performing a cesarean section before the baby suffered permanent brain damage, including spastic cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness.

Plaintiffs’ claims included allegations that the defendants: failed to properly monitor the plaintiff, did not appreciate a non-reassuring fetal heart rate pattern marked by prolonged decelerations and minimal variability, and negligently administered Pitocin (oxytocin) when it was contraindicated. As a result, the infant plaintiff was born hypoxic, acidotic, and with low APGAR scores.
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We frequently blog about labor and delivery complications, including precipitate delivery, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, and placenta accrete. Each can lead to serious injury to a baby, such as cerebral palsy.

Some Syracuse labor and delivery complications can be avoided if a baby is delivered by cesarean section (c-section), rather than a vaginal delivery. A recent study on 230,000 deliveries in 19 hospitals around the country revealed that about 1/3 of the babies were born by c-section. Rates are expected to continue rising because most women experience repeat c-section, rather than a vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC).

According to Syracuse birth injury lawyers Bottar Law, PLLC, the medical industry was quick to blame the rise in abdominal deliveries on obstetrical medical malpractice claims and doctors practicing “defensive medicine.” However, the study did not cite legal concerns as the basis for the statistical increase. Rather, it cited “chemically-induced” labors as the primary reason for c-sections. Indeed, women whose labor was induced were twice (2x) a likely to have a c-section. The chemical commonly used to induce labor is Pitocin or “pit.”

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The American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association recently announced guidelines for the use of nuclear imaging to diagnose and manage heart failure.

According to Syracuse misdiagnosis lawyer Michael A. Bottar, an attorney with Bottar Law, PLLC, a Syracuse medical malpractice and catastrophic injury law firm, a failure to diagnose heart damage can lead to a wrongful death. Timely diagnosis is critical to survival.

Cardiology malpractice and New York emergency room mistakes can be avoided if doctors timely identify ventricular dysfunction and plan a course of treatment. A well-reasoned plan of care should include an attempt to determine the etiology of the heart problem. It is important for medical providers to know whether, for example, a patient is presenting with ischemic, dilated, valvular, or congenital heart failure. Each is treated differently. While a stethoscope is a very useful tool, imaging studies are essential to making the correct diagnosis.

The guidelines first recommend that a physician secure a two-dimensional echocardiogram. This study quantifies the heart’s ejection fraction, as well as valve size and function (or dysfunction). From there, more complicated studies are available, including radionuclide ventriculography, coronary arteriography, myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), and SPECT and MUGA studies.
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According to a recent clinical trial, the newly developed Cologuard sDNA test is better at detecting colon cancer than current non-invasive tests such as the fecal occult blood test.

Researchers report that the sDNA test identified 64% of pre-cancerous polyps and 85% of full-blown cancers. The test measures altered DNA cells in all locations throughout the colon. It is the first non-invasive test to identify pre-cancerous polyps. It requires no bowel preparation.

According to Michael A. Bottar, Esq., a New York colon cancer misdiagnosis lawyer with Bottar Law, PLLC, a team of Syracuse medical malpractice lawyers, invasive screenings such as a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy are currently the “Holy Grail” for detecting colon cancer. Because those studies have risks, gastroenterologists are always searching for a highly accurent, non-invasive alternative.

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According to a recent study published by the National Cancer Institute, a large number of primary care doctors, also known as internists, do not know whether low-dose spiral computerized tomography (LDCT) screening is effective in identifying lung cancer in asymptomatic patients.

Most (67%) of the doctors who participated in the study reported that LDCT is effective in reducing lung cancer risk. However, according to Syracuse medical malpractice lawyer Michael A. Bottar, Esq., “there is little if any evidence that such screening lowers the risk of death from lung cancer in these patients.” The study is a cause for concern because primary care physicians that use LDCT as their only means of checking for lung cancer may fail to diagnose cancer. A contrasting study, published by the National Cancer Institute, suggests that screening heavy-smokers with a spiral chest CT may reduce the risk of lung cancer death.

At the present time, the American Cancer Society does not recommending lung cancer screenings for people without symptoms. Nearly 25% of all people with lung cancer do not have symptoms. When there are lung cancer symptoms, they generally include a nagging cough, coughing-up blood (hemoptysis), dull chest pain, wheezing, shortness of breath and repeated respiratory infections.

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