Women Should Take More Folic Acid. Source: BBC Health/Scotland. It’s not just for currently pregnant women anymore. The Scottish Spina Bifida Association has noticed an alarming trend in the rate of infants born with Spina Bifida.
Childhood Disease Rates Rise
Sources: U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention; National Institutes of Health Childhood Disease Rates have been kept low with the advent of vaccination programs. Childhood disease is common in the early months and years of life. Some upper respiratory viral or bacterial infections—colds, bronchitis, or croup—are quite common. Also common are ear infections, sinusitis, impetigo [...]
Childhood Cancer, Common.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Jemal A, et al., Cancer statistics, 2009. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 2009;59(4):225–249; U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2009. CANCER is the second most common cause of death among children between [...]
Tort Reform -The Big Lie
Source: Public Citizen Report -Congress Watch Division (Public Citizen is a national non-profit consumer organization with more than 300,000 members and supporters). Medical malpractice payments were at their lowest level on record in 2011 In contrast to the hundreds of thousands of annual avoidable adverse events (and tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths) that [...]
Surgical Malpractice Ureteral Injury From Obstetrical/Gynecologic Surgery Common Cause of Lawsuits
Source: Danish Medical Journal -Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica DANISH researchers, in connection with the Department of Anesthesia of the University of Copenhagen and the Insurance Association of Denmark, have studied reports of 136 ureteral injuries which constitute surgical malpractice in gynecological and obstetrical surgeries which resulted in litigation and insurance claims. Their findings? Failure to dissect and identify the [...]
$350,000 Settlement for Ureteral Injury Following C-Section
Injury: Injured ureter during obstetric surgery resulting in multiple surgeries to repair, chronic urinary difficulty and urinary tract infection and pain and discomfort Age of Patient at Injury: 37 years old Result: $350,000 Settlement Court: Lancaster County, PA Comment: Our client was a young mother who had a c-section with her second child. During the [...]
A Cheap Plastic Ring May Prevent Premature Birth
Sources: The Lancet online, BBC Health They aren't entirely new, however, in one of the first radomised and controlled studies, women with a short cervix (identified by transvaginal ultrasound at 20-23 weeks) had a simple silicon pessary device inserted to determine if this might reduce the risk of preterm labor. A Brief Background Being born [...]
Test Predicts Pre-Eclampsia
Source: American Society of Nephrology; the Preeclampsia Foundation Pre-eclampsia is a heart condition that occurs only during and after pregnancy which can affects both the mother and baby. It occurs in at least 5-8% of all pregnancies. Pre-eclampsia is a rapidly progressive condition commonly starting with high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. [...]
$800,000 Settlement for Failure to Diagnose Pediatric Problem
Injury: Permanent colostomy and cognitive impairment Age of Patient at Injury: 11 months Result: $800,000 Settlement Court: Atlantic County, NJ Comments: Our client and his family brought suit for the failure of the hospital where he was delivered and the doctors attending to him to timely recognize and surgically treat a congenital bowel movement problem. [...]
Smoking while pregnant increases birth defects!
Sources: BBC Health; Journal Human Reproduction; US Department of Health & Human Services New Research from the UK suggests that women who smoke while pregnant are increasing the chance their baby will be born malformed. The risk for having a baby with missing or deformed limbs or a cleft lip is over 25% higher for [...]
FDA approves the first vaccine to prevent meningococcal disease in infants and toddlers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the use of Menactra in children as young as 9 months for the prevention of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y and W-135. Menactra already is approved for use in people ages 2 through 55 years. Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening illness caused by [...]