Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Serving New Jersey and the Philadelphia metropolitan area

Weiss & Paarz P.C.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Prenatal Misdiagnosis and Wrongful Birth

The birth of one's child is supposed to be a young mother's most joyous experience ever; however, that joy can quickly turn to fear and horror if your child is born with some type of birth injury. Sickle cell disease, of which sickle cell anemia is a common type, can be detected during the mother's pregnancy with a simple blood test. If your obstetrician does not offer this blood test during the pregnancy, then he may have been negligent. Some parents, upon finding out their child will be born with a disease or defect, would choose to terminate the pregnancy. Parents have the right to know if their child will be born with a lifelong disease.

A very simple blood test either before conception or during pregnancy can determine whether either parent carries a sickle cell trait. People with the sickle cell trait do not have sickle cell disease or exhibit any signs of the disorder, but they can pass the gene for the disease to their children. When both parents have the sickle cell trait, there's a 25% chance that a child will have sickle cell disease. This is where the simple blood test comes in and can alert you to this disease being present in your child. If the blood test is not given, the parent never has the option to choose to terminate the pregnancy.

If your child was born with sickle cell disease, or some other condition or disease that could have been detected prior to birth, you may have a valid medical malpractice case. The skilled birth injury attorneys at Weiss & Paarz, P.C. serving New Jersey and surrounding states, can help.

posted by PaulaB at 9:00 AM

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Pregnancy and Sickle Cell Disease

With so many factors that could go wrong during pregnancy and childbirth, it's a wonder that so many children are born with absolutely no health problems or physical deformities. But, unfortunately, there are problems during childbirth and during pregnancy that can leave babies with conditions and disorders for the rest of their lives.

A condition known as "sickle cell disease" is one genetic disorder that can be detected by a simple blood test of the mother during her pregnancy. If either the mother or father is at increased risk for the sickle cell trait, a blood test should be offered by the obstetrician to detect the presence of the sickle cell trait in the baby.

Sickle cell disease involves a group of inherited blood disorders in which the red blood cells have an abnormal, rigid, sickle-like shape. This disease can result in interruption of blood flow and prevent oxygen from reaching tissues and organs. A very common form of sickle cell disease is "sickle cell anemia," where there is a shortage of red blood cells circulating through the body because sickle cells die prematurely. There is no cure for sickle cell disease at the present time and this disease does last for a lifetime.

Children born with sickle cell disease will have special needs as the symptoms range from mild to severely debilitating. Children will require medical monitoring over the course of their lifetime, and often times, sickle cell children will require multiple hospitalizations. This, of course, can be rather costly.

If your child was born with sickle cell disease that could have been detected prior to the birth with a simple blood test, you may have valid legal claim of failed prenatal diagnosis. If you live in New Jersey or a surrounding area, please contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Weiss & Paarz, P.C. today to schedule your confidential, no-cost consultation.

posted by PaulaB at 9:00 AM

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