Baltimore Medication Error Attorney

Baltimore Medication Error Attorney Unfortunately, medication error made during the childbirth process can compromise the safety and health of mother as well as child.

When doctors or other medical professionals should have acted differently and have compromised the child or the mother’s health in the process, you may be entitled to file a medical malpractice lawsuit with the help of a medical malpractice attorney in Maryland.

There are many different medications given to women during the pregnancy, labor and delivery process. When the right medicines are given at the appropriate dosages, they can be extremely beneficial. However, if the inappropriate dosing procedures or types of medicines are given, the mother and child may suffer critical injuries.

Babies can be left with birth injuries like developmental disabilities, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, and seizure disorders. Some of the most common labor and delivery medication errors are outlined below.

Pitocin Misuse

Pitocin is a synthetic form of oxytocin used to speed up or induce labor. When too much Pitocin is administered, however, it can cause contractions that happen less than two to three minutes apart, making it difficult for the placenta to replenish its oxygen supply. This can lead to birth injuries like birth asphyxia, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, seizures, cerebral palsy and additional birth injuries.

Hyperstimulation using Pitocin is extremely risky because there are currently no accurate methods to measure the impact that it has on the uterine. Additional fetal complications associated with Pitocin use include:

Hypertension
Neonatal seizures
Fetal distress
Neonatal jaundice
Fetal head trauma

Maternal injuries may also result in the form of:

Hypotension
Hypertension
Pelvic Hematoma
Postpartum hemorrhage
Prolonged and strong uterine contractions

Pitocin should not be used in a variety of situations including:

When there is surgical or uterine scarring
With evidence of substantial cephalopelvic disproportion
Fetal distress, where delivery is not immediate
Umbilical cord prolapse

Cytotec

This is also referred to by its generic name Misoprostol and it is a drug frequently administered to pregnant women in order to induce labor. Although its usage is currently controversial because it is not approved by the FDA as a labor induction drug, devastating side effects may result. Cytotec may be harmful to the child as well as the mother. Some of the complications associated with the use of this drug include:

Amniotic fluid embolism
Blood loss or increased hemorrhaging
Cardiac arrhythmia
Umbilical cord compression
Birth asphyxia
Bradycardia
Uterine rupture
Increased emergency C-section