The child, now three years old, suffers severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy as a result of the Philadelphia hospital's 81-minute delay in performing an emergency cesarean section on the mother.

The attorneys for the plaintiffs said birth injuries cases invariably involve deep emotional issues, but that this case was particularly disturbing because the emergency c-section was delayed because the obstetrician thought the baby had died.

"He performed an ultrasound examination with outdated, insensitive, and poorly maintained equipment provided to him by the hospital," an attorney said. "He actually told my client her baby had died, then 81 minutes later, the baby had come back to life."

Some people might say, now the hospital will pay the price for their negligence. While that's true, the price they will pay is infinitesimal compared to the price paid by that three-year-old child.

The case began in August of 2008, when the mother, then 36 weeks pregnant, went to the hospital with signs that the placenta might have detached from the wall of the uterus.

The obstetrician performed an ultrasound exam at the woman's bedside.

The obstetrician claims he performed the examination properly and that the reason he didn't detect a heartbeat was because the baby had died and that the baby "came back to life," an hour and 21 minutes later.

The hospital said it plans to appeal the case.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal, "Pottstown hospital ordered to pay $78.5 million," May 4, 2012

While residents of New York are free to sue negligent doctors and hospitals for medical malpractice, members of the military run into something known as the Feres Doctrine when they try to get the same sort of justice for injuries caused to them by negligent physicians.

At this point, no one can say whether or not the Airman's legal challenge to the Feres Doctrine will be successful.

He went into the military medical center in order to have laparoscopic surgery to have his gallbladder taken out before he was to be deployed overseas.

Laparoscopy is a common surgical procedure to remove gallbladders. Instead of making a large abdominal incision, the surgeon makes several small incisions, through which a lighted viewing instrument is inserted. Other instruments are also be inserted to enable the surgeon to remove the gallbladder.

In most cases, the patient is able to return to normal activities in a week or 10 days. But in the Airman's case, a surgeon lacerated his aorta. That error set off a series of events, a media outlet reports, that resulted in his transfer to a civilian hospital being delayed for nine hours.

By then, doctors determined that his legs had been without blood for hours and as a result, had to be amputated.

The former Airman is asking for $34 million in damages for pain, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement and loss of earning potential. The suit seeks an additional $20 million for his wife for loss of consortium.

Source: Renal & Urology News: "Former Airman Sues U.S. For Medical Malpractice," April 27, 2012

A recent article by American neurosurgeons on the subject stated that "chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine is a known cause of craniocervical arterial dissections." Those dissections can cause a blockage of blood flow to the brain, which can result in stroke and death in some cases.

The problem is that some chiropractic treatments of the neck-- especially those employing powerful rotations of the neck by the chiropractor -- can result in a disintegration or dissection of an artery running along the patient's spine. That's when the blockage and strokes can occur.

The new study is an analysis of a database of people who suffered strokes, identifying which of them had chiropractic manipulations prior to the stroke. The surgeons found 13 patients who fit the criteria. All had damage to their arteries close to the upper vertebrae (those arteries are used to carry blood to the brain).

All the patients required either surgery or treatment with drugs. Three had permanent neurological damage and one perished as the result of a massive stroke. The other nine people recovered from the damage done to them.

The researchers conclude that there are likely many unreported such cases. "In all likelihood, a substantial number of cases are not reported either because the injury is not severe or is asymptomatic," the researchers concluded.

If you or a loved one has suffered neurological damage due to chiropractic malpractice, talk over your legal options with an attorney who understands not only medical malpractice law, but also has substantial knowledge of medicine and chiropractics.

Source: The Guardian: "Chiropractic manipulation of the spine may cause strokes and even death," April 27, 2012

Last year, there were more than 400 motor vehicle crashes in road and bridge work zones across the state. Five of those accidents involved fatalities.

There has already been a road work zone accident this year. The crash was about 180 miles northwest of Newburgh, in New Hartford, according to the Department of Transportation.

A number of projects are planned locally, including pavement work on I-84, scheduled to be completed by the end of July, and work on South Street arterial signals scheduled to be finished by the end of October of this year.

Work zone crashes can leave construction workers with injuries; drivers and passengers in other vehicles can be hurt, too, of course.

One construction worker told WRVO that accidents are an ever-present danger: "It never leaves your mind," he said. "You're always concerned about the traffic. I've worked with the department now for just about 30 years and our concern years ago used to be speed and possibly something with alcohol or drugs. Today, what we're seeing more is cell phone use."

Please slow down in work zones and put your phone down, too.

Source: WRVO, "New York state urges motorists to slow down in work zones," Ellen Abbot, April 26, 2012

A jury trial had been scheduled to begin next week far from New York, according to a news report about the Idaho case.

Those cases are separate from the medical malpractice case brought by the couple whose daughter was born with oxygen in June of 2008. The oxygen deprivation led to permanent brain damage, doctors said.

The attorney for the couple expressed confidence that a jury would've agreed with his clients and awarded them the damages stipulated in the agreement, if not even more than that.

However, it's unclear how much money the mother and daughter will ever pay to the couple and their daughter. Idaho midwife practices aren't required to carry medical malpractice insurance and the women are reportedly going to file for bankruptcy protection from their creditors.

The women's licenses were suspended in late March after the three newborns died. In one June 2011 case, investigators said one of the midwives delayed allowing paramedics into a patient's room for approximately four minutes.

A state board said she "failed to fully cooperate with paramedics. She had to be asked questions multiple times before responding and would not provide adequate information."

In another case, a student midwife at the birthing center improperly cut an umbilical cord, according to the board.

In the third case, paramedics weren't called for 11 minutes after the baby's birth, even though the infant was born "limp, unresponsive and pale."

Investigators said allowing the mother and daughter to continue their midwifery practice presented "an immediate and ongoing danger to the public health."

Source: Associated Press: "Idaho midwives reach $5M deal in malpractice case at Meridian birthing center," John Miller, April 23, 2012

Though the case was 500 miles north of Newburgh, it resonates here among people who have had loved ones suffer as a result of substandard medical care.

The woman, 59, sued the doctor for medical malpractice, claiming that the dosage of prescribed methadone was so high it caused her to stop breathing one night, causing brain damage due to oxygen deprivation.

Her attorney said he wasn't surprised by the swift decision in his client's favor. "I guess I would say I'm not surprised because it was the right decision and juries generally get it right in my experience," he told the Bangor Daily News.

He said the case involved complex medical and legal issues that, once understood by everyone, made it "clear that there was a breach in the standard of care."

The woman was being treated for chronic back pain at the time she went to the family practice doctor for help.

The methadone dosage prescribed was apparently eight times the amount recommended by experts. Two and a half days after taking the initial dose, she stopped breathing and suffered the brain damage.

She has since had difficulty performing simple tasks and doing more than one thing at a time. She's also unable to return to work as a result of her injury.

Source: Bangor Daily News: "Jury awards Corinth woman $1.9M in methadone malpractice suit," Andrew Neff, April 12, 2012

New research shows that the stress of filing taxes might be more damaging than thought: Americans are more likely to be killed in a car accident on Tax Day.

What they found is that on those 30 Tax Days, an average of 226 people died in car crashes on those days, totally more than 19,500 people killed in Tax Day crashes. On a normal day, the averages over that same 30-year period add up to just under 13,000 people killed in motor vehicle wrecks.

The researchers say that surge in fatalities is comparable to the dramatic rise in wrecks in Super Bowl Sunday, when so many drivers are behind the wheel after drinking alcohol at game-day parties.

The study's authors say it might be that on Tax Day, people are also consuming alcohol in above-average numbers. Added to the stress that comes with filing taxes, it could be a lethal combination. However, the researchers caution that more study needs to be done to confirm their educated guesses.

Please be careful tomorrow, even if you've already filed your taxes and are under no particular stress. Remember that many others might be having a bad day that could turn tragic if we're not all paying attention.

Source: CBS News: "More people die in fatal car crashes on Tax Day, study finds," April 11, 2012