Personal Injury Lawyers in New York

Erbs Palsy - medical malpractice bronx county and other counties


A frequent injury suffered by babies as a result of birth trauma is Erbs palsy also called brachial plexus palsy. Erbs palsy or brachial plexus palsy occurs when the doctor delivering a baby places excessive force and traction grasping the baby's head trying to deliver the shoulder during delivery. Excessive force and traction injures spinal nerves located in the cervical area of the spine most commonly at the root of the C5-C6 nerves. This causes a permanent nerve injury causing the arm to be limp, weak and partially paralyzed . There is also injury to the shoulder, hand and the brachial plexus.

Shoulder dystocia causes the difficulty in delivering the shoulder. Shoulder dystocia is a
preventable complication because medicine has established factors are associated with a high risk of shoulder dystocia. These factors include birth weight estimated to be greater than 4000 grams(macrosomia), gestational diabetes, prolonged second stage of labor, multi-parity, and other factors. The delivering doctor has the responsibility to carefully evaluate both baby and mother before attempting to vaginally deliver a baby. Sonography is a safe simple method of helping to accurately predict the birth weight carefully when it's done near the time of anticipated birth .

The only prevention of a shoulder dystocia is delivered by cesarean section.

When shoulder dystocia has not been diagnosed by the physician and the baby's head has been delivered, then good and accepted medical practice demands that the physician not place excessive traction in an attempt to deliver the shoulder. The physician must not apply excessive downward traction on the fetal head in an attempt to deliver the shoulder. Fundal pressure cannot be used to aid delivery until at least one shoulder is delivered. The correct method is to flex the mother's thighs upon the abdomen. This reduces the traction required to deliver the shoulder(anterior). This method is named the McRoberts maneuver. Suprapubic pressure perpendicular to the abdomen is also used to push the anterior shoulder into the oblique or under the symphysis pubis.

When doctors fail to follow is relatively simple steps and the baby is caused this permanent
lifetime injury, and the doctors responsible to the baby for the harm and damages caused.
Every year we are consulted by parents of babies who were delivered traumatically and are now plagued by a loss of use of their arm to decrease range of motion, strength And vitality. With experience in legal representation firms such as ours, the insurance the insurance company for doctors usually tries to settle these medical malpractice cases. Sometimes the insurance company tries to cheat the baby and not pay insurance money because the insurer thinks that can pull a fast one in a trial. In order to succeed against the big insurance company at trial parents of a baby really need experienced attorney in the court room.


If your family has been involved in suspected birth injury to your child, please contact the Malpractice Law Offices of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

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