Birth Injuries from Medications

Over the course of her pregnancy, an expecting mother may develop certain illnesses, infections, or other complications that require medications to treat. Additionally, she may be prescribed medications when complications arise during labor and delivery. These medications can be life-saving and prevent further harm to the mother, but misusing them can sometimes lead to a preventable injury for her or a birth injury for her child.

Birth injuries from medications can sometimes be the result of medical malpractice when doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals make preventable errors when prescribing and administering them.

A newborn can sustain serious birth defects and birth injuries if their mother is prescribed the wrong medication or an incorrect dosage. Among the most severe is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a debilitating brain injury that affects a child’s physical and cognitive development. HIE is the leading cause of cerebral palsy.

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In some pregnancies, the expecting mother experiences a complication like her water breaking prematurely or having weak contractions that will prolong her labor. In other cases, there may be certain fetal complications like an umbilical cord problem or signs of fetal distress that make it unsafe for the mother to carry the child fully to term.

In these instances, doctors may prescribe labor-inducing medications to artificially start the mother’s delivery before the complications cause injury to her or her baby.

Multiple factors can play into why the uterus fails to contract with sufficient strength, duration or frequency to progress labor effectively (a condition known as hypotonic labor). This can include uterine deformities and previous surgery for injuries such as a uterine rupture. The most common cause, however, is a hormone imbalance of oxytocin.

A woman’s body makes oxytocin throughout her lifetime, with increased production during pregnancy. As the fetus presses against her cervix, it triggers a nerve impulse that sends a message to the pituitary gland in her brain to produce more oxytocin. The oxytocin travels to her uterus to stimulate contractions.

However, if the mother has a hormone imbalance that’s causing an oxytocin deficiency, her contractions may be too weak to push the baby out. This increases her risk of a prolonged or arrested labor, which can be dangerous for both her and her child.

For women with these issues, their doctors may prescribe Pitocin, which is a synthesized version of oxytocin. Doctors typically give Pitocin intravenously when inducing a woman whose labor has not started, but it is also given to women who are already in labor and need stronger contractions in order to progress.

The improper use of synthetic Oxytocin medications leads to thousands of birth injuries each year. It is the medication most commonly associated with preventable adverse perinatal outcomes.

The most common issue with administering too much Oxytocin is uterine hyperstimulation, a labor and delivery complication marked by excessive uterine activity. “Excessive uterine activity” refers to uterine contractions that are too strong, too frequent (tachysystole), or continue on for too long without stopping.

Uterine hyperstimulation can cause several problems for both the mother and the child, including:

• Cranial Injuries: Too forceful of contractions can place unsafe intra-cranial pressure on the baby, putting them at risk for skull fractures and cranial molding (abnormalities in head shape that can cause lesions to the brain).
• Hypoxia and Ischemia: While in labor, a mother’s contractions temporarily restrict the baby’s access to blood and oxygen flow. This process is natural, and in a typical labor the placenta "recharges" in between contractions to supply the infant with life-giving blood and oxygen. During that recovery time, the fetus replenishes its oxygen and purges waste.
  
  With uterine hyperstimulation, however, the breaks in between contractions may be too short or nonexistent, and a baby can only go so long with diminished oxygenation before they become at risk for a severe hypoxic (lack of oxygen) or ischemic (lack of blood flow) brain injury, namely hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
• Fetal Distress: Prolonged periods of hypoxia or anoxia can cause the baby’s heart rate to elevate to unsafe levels. This can be measured and tracked through fetal heart rate monitoring before the baby is born. When a child’s heart rate or rhythm is abnormally slow, it can be a sign of fetal distress. Fetal distress increases the risk of a birth injury including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, developmental delays, and even death.
• Fetal Acidosis: Fetal acidosis refers to abnormally high concentration of acid and hydrogen ions in the unborn baby’s blood. This makes the blood more “acid” like and is usually the result of the lack of oxygen. The risk of fetal acidosis is increased with uterine hyperstimulation because the excessive contractions cut off the baby’s oxygen supply.

When a mother’s uterine hyperstimulation results in any of these birth complications, it can sometimes result in the death of the infant. Maternal complications of hyperstimulation can include a uterine rupture or a placental abruption, both of which can cause excessive bleeding and intense pain.

To avoid these outcomes, doctors may deem it necessary to perform an emergency c-section delivery when uterine hyperstimulation poses a risk to the mother or her baby.

Labor induction can be necessary when complications or the risk of a birth injury threatens a mother’s safe delivery. However, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals put the mother and her baby in harm’s way when they make preventable errors with administering medications like Pitocin and Cytotec. Examples of medical negligence can include:

• Not administering labor induction medications after failing to identify a mother’s risk factors for a prolonged or arrested labor.
• Administering Pitocin or Cytotec to an expecting mother with underlying conditions that make the medication unsafe to take.
• Administering the improper dosage to an expecting mother, either not helping with labor induction or causing uterine hyperstimulation.
• Failing to catch a complication of labor induction medications such as uterine hyperstimulation, tachysystole, or fetal distress.
• Continuing to increase the dosage and/or failing to stop labor induction medication when there are worrisome signs on the electronic fetal monitoring strips.

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It’s important to note that it requires a detailed review of the specific facts and timeline of a mother’s birth and the action taken shortly after it before making a definitive judgement as to whether medical malpractice played a factor in her child’s birth injury.

When a mother contracts an infection, her primary doctor may prescribe medication to cure it.

• Antivirals, as the name suggests, are used to treat viral infections like influenza and COVID-19.
• Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections like E. Coli and Group B Step.
• Antifungal medications are used to treat a fungal infection, though these types of infections are less common than the other two.

Like all medications, antibiotics and antivirals have the risk of causing complications or worsening a mother's or child’s conditions when medical providers make errors. Examples of this can include:

• Failing to prescribe an antibiotic or antiviral after missing the signs of a maternal infection or neonatal infection, resulting in a delay of care.
• Administering the inappropriate dosage (either too high or too low), resulting in toxicity or ineffective treatment.
• Prescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics (antibiotics that treat a wide range of bacteria) instead of capable narrow-spectrum antibiotics, increasing the chances of resistance.
• Stopping treatment before the mother or newborn completes the full course of medication.
• Failing to educate mothers on how or when to take antibiotics/antivirals from home, resulting in misuse.
• Improper storage or handling of antibiotics or antivirals, leading to a reduction in their efficacy.

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While these situations may indicate that medical malpractice took place, a thorough review of the mother’s birth and the child’s birth injury must be done before concluding whether or not a claim exists.

Corticosteroids are a class of medication primarily prescribed to reduce inflammation, whether caused by an allergic reaction, skin conditions, or maternal infection and neonatal infection. Some of the most common brand corticosteroid medications include Prednisone, Cortisone, and Betamethasone.

For neonates, corticosteroids are used most often to reduce inflammation in the lungs. They aid the body in accelerating lung tissue development and producing surfactant, which can reduce the risk of respiratory distress syndrome.

Corticosteroids are sometimes prescribed to expecting mothers who go into labor prematurely to help with fetal lung development.

When a premature baby is born, they often have trouble breathing because their lungs are often not fully developed and may lack surfactant, a substance that helps the lungs expand and contract properly. A premature baby's underdeveloped organs (most commonly their lungs) can make them especially susceptible to health complications and lead to an increased risk of breathing difficulties, developmental delays, and vision impairments and hearing problems.

In cases where premature birth is imminent, a doctor may prescribe steroid injections such as Betamethasone to help mature a baby's lungs. These injections can help the baby breathe more easily by reducing inflammation in the lungs and progressing tissue development.

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When misused or mismanaged, corticosteroid treatment can become ineffective or even harmful to the mother or her baby. Examples of medical negligence can include:

• Failure to prescribe corticosteroids to treat inflammatory bodily responses.
• Administering the inappropriate dosage (either too high or too low), resulting in toxicity or ineffective treatment.
• Failure to monitor the side effects of corticosteroid medication, such as hypertension.

These scenarios can be examples of medical malpractice, but the mother’s birth and the usage of corticosteroids must be examined and reviewed before determining if a family has a case.

Analgesia is used during vaginal delivery to provide relief from labor pain, which is a form of acute pain. Neuraxial labor analgesia, which involves administration of analgesics (pain relievers) as epidural (in the space around the spinal cord), spinal (directly into the spinal cord) or combined spinal-epidural analgesia (CSE), is currently accepted as the most effective technique for pain control during labor and delivery.

Unlike analgesia, which numbs the pain without causing a total loss of sensation, anesthesia removes all sensation from the targeted areas. According to the practice guidelines published by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, a spinal block, an epidural or combined anesthesia should be used for most cesarean deliveries. In exceptional cases, general anesthesia may be used. This means the mother will be unconscious during the entire surgical procedure.

Mistakes in the use of analgesia and anesthesia can put the baby at an increased risk of fetal hypoxia, fetal acidosis, and fetal distress syndrome. In some cases, the adverse outcomes for the baby may include hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is a major cause of cerebral palsy.

Anesthesia errors, such as over-dosage of the anesthetic drug, wrong choice of anesthetic technique, failure to monitor the mother and the baby (with fetal heart monitoring and other methods), intubation errors (incorrect tube positioning in the airway or disconnected, overinflated or damaged tube), and communication errors between the anesthesiologist and the rest of the perinatal team can increase the risk of a birth injury to the mother and the baby.

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When used correctly, medications can save an expecting mother’s or newborn’s life. But when medical professionals make preventable errors during labor and delivery, such as failing to prescribe the proper medication or administering an improper dosage, it can have the opposite effect and increase a baby’s odds of birth defects, birth injuries, and even infant death in some cases.

If a family believes medical negligence contributed to a mother’s or her child’s medication-related birth injury, legal support may be an option. A specialized birth injury attorney can review the medical records and circumstances to assess whether a viable claim for medical malpractice exists.

Parents whose children suffer from the long-term effects of birth complications, as well as parents who have suffered the loss of their baby, deserve to know whether it could have been prevented. Our dedicated birth injury lawyers want to help you find those answers and obtain the funds necessary to improve the quality of life for your child.

If your child has been diagnosed with a birth injury and you suspect this may have been caused in part by an error with medications, Miller Weisbrod Olesky will thoroughly investigate the facts and hold the responsible medical providers accountable by pursuing medical malpractice claims against them.

Sometimes families are hesitant to reach out to a medical malpractice attorney or law firm. They may feel overwhelmed by their circumstances or are worried that a law firm will not be able to help them. But the only way to find out if you have a case is to talk to an attorney who understands how birth injuries can lead to developmental delays and other birth complications that require long-lasting medical support.

A statute of limitations (SOL) is a law that sets a time limit on how long an injured person has to file a lawsuit after an accident. It is essential to understand that statutes of limitations vary based on the type of case and the state where it is filed. For instance, the deadline for birth injury claims is typically different from other claims, such as injury to personal property, fraud, contract disputes, and collection of debts.

Generally, the clock starts ticking on the date the injury occurred. However, there are exceptions to this rule, and in some cases, the statute of limitations starts when a person discovers or reasonably should have discovered an injury. When dealing with government agencies, SOLs can become even more complex.

For example, if the party that injured you was:

• A federal employee
• Employed by a military hospital, Veterans Administration facility, or a federally funded medical entity

You may need to file a birth injury claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). In FTCA cases, claimants must go through certain administrative procedures before filing a lawsuit. In some states, if the negligent party was a local or state government hospital or the doctors and medical providers are employees of a governmental entity, the time period in which you must give "notice" may be shorter.

If your case is filed outside of the statute of limitations, it will typically be dismissed, and you will not be eligible to recover compensation for your injuries. Determining when a statute of limitations begins on your case can be tricky. If you're considering pursuing compensation for a birth injury, contacting an attorney as soon as possible is in your best interest.

It takes a detailed expert review of the facts and circumstances of your child's birth and death to determine whether their untimely passing came as the result of medical malpractice.

Our Process

At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a team of committed birth injury lawyers, nurses and paraprofessionals uses our detailed medical negligence case review process to assess your potential birth injury case. We start by learning more about you and your child and the status of meeting/missing developmental milestones. Then we gather medical records to determine what happened before, during, and after your delivery. We call in skilled medical experts who review your records and let us know if they think medical errors could have caused your child's injuries.

If we feel medical negligence caused or contributed to your child's injuries, we meet with you to discuss how you can receive compensation from the medical professionals who made the errors.

At no point in our legal intake process will we ask you to pay anything. The medical review of your case and the consultation are free. We only receive payment when you do. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we can begin investigating your case and gathering the evidence needed to support your claim. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation by calling our toll-free line at 888-987-0005 or by filling out our online request form.