Birth Injury Informative Series: Neonatal Meningitis | Kelly Law Team

Have you or a loved one been affected by a labor or delivery complication that has resulted in an injury to a baby?

Contact the compassionate lawyers at the Kelly Law Team to schedule a consultation. Birth injuries are often preventable; we hold the neglectful accountable. https://www.jkphoenixpersonalinjuryat...
If you have any questions on your case, or would like to set up a consultation, call us at 602-283-4122

Kelly Law Team 1 E Washington st Suite 1520
Phoenix, AZ 85004
602-283-4122
https://www.jkphoenixpersonalinjuryat...

Transcript:
hi my name is John Kelly I'm a personal injury attorney that handles birth injuries throughout the nation And we're doing a series on birth injuries And this is the final video of the series on medical negligence And this one is Neonatal Meningitis injuries at birth Neonatal Meningitis, Meningitis in the newborn is a life-threatening infection that often results from bacteria passed during childbirth It can cause brain damage hearing loss seizures or even death if not caught and treated promptly Unfortunately many severe cases could be prevented with proper medical care and failures by the health care providers um which amounts to medical malpractice can play a major role in newborn contracting or suffering harm from Meningitis We will explore how medical malpractice may contribute to Neonatal Meningitis the legal avenues for affected families past case examples and steps hospitals should take to prevent such negligence I want to talk to you about new newborns in the NICU or neonatal intensive care unit Strict infection control and timely medical intervention are critical to prevent neonatal infections Medical malpractice refers to the substandard care by a doctor or hospital that causes harm In the context of Neonatal Meningitis several types of negligence can increase a baby's risk of infection or worsen the outcome Failure to diagnose and misdiagnosis are common Doctors might overlook early signs of Meningitis or mistake them for minor illness Newborn Meningitis symptoms example irritability poor feeding or fever can resemble common alignments If a physician dismisses these signs for example assuming a fussy feverish newborn is just colicky or has the flu and fails to perform diagnostic tests like a spinal tap Meningitis can go untreated Any delay in diagnosis greatly increases the risk of lifelong complications or death I want to talk now about improper or delayed treatment Even when infection is suspected delays in starting the correct treatment or providing the wrong treatment can be catastrophic For instance confusing bacterial Meningitis with a less severe viral infection can lead to the wrong medications and deadly delay in care In Neonatal Meningitis every hour counts So prompt intravenous antibiotics are the standard for bacterial Meningitis If care providers wait too long to begin treatment or use an ineffective approach the infection can cause irreversible brain damage One legal case showed that multiple care delays and missteps led to a newborn's infection to progress until he suffered permanent brain injury Lack of infection control in the hospital is another problem that we see So poor hygiene and infection control practices can expose newborns to dangerous bacteria Failing to sterilize medical instruments such as delivery tools feeding tubes or incubators or not washing hands between patients can introduce infections in a nursery NIC setting Hospitals are expected to maintain a sterile environment If they don't infants can acquire hospital-born infections that lead to Meningitis In one scenario a hospital's improper sanitation even if using certain improper cleaning products contributed to an outbreak Even using certain improper cleaning products contributed to an outbreak Demonstrating how breaches and protocol put babies at risk Want to talk to you about failure to screen or treat maternal infections Many ne Neonatal Meningitis cases stem from infections the mother passes to the baby during labor Group B strep or GBS is a prime example It causes up to half of Neonatal Meningitis cases Doctors should screen pregnant mothers for GBS in the late third trimester and give an IV antibiotic during labor if the test is positive If a provider fails to perform these screening or to administer antibiotics when needed the baby can be born with preventable GBS infection Other maternal infections like listeria or E.coli in the birth canal must also be detected and managed Negligence in this area such as ignoring prenatal test protocols or signs of infection in the mother can directly lead to newborn contracting Meningitis at birth For example an Illinois case settled for 9 million after doctors did not test a mother for GBS Her baby suffered severe Meningitis related brain damage that could have been avoided with proper screening and antibiotics I'll now talk about delayed C-section or delivery in high-risk situa ::truncated::