Duke University Medical Center is researching the use of cord blood cells to lessen the symptoms of spastic cerebral palsy in children.The study will involve children aged between one and six years whose parents have banked their child's own cord at birth. Doctors...
Birth Injuries
Device Helps Screen Babies For Life-Threatening Heart Defects
Congenital heart defects are responsible for between three and 7.5 percent of infant deaths. Because a heart defect diagnosis is often a life-saving discovery, scientists have been trying to improve the tools and methods available for diagnoses. One such testing...
Pfizer recalls 1 million defective birth control pill packets
In a nearly-unbelievable mistake, Pfizer has issued over 1 million packets of birth control pills that may be ineffective. The pharmaceutical firm is scrambling to recall the drugs, but many women have unknowingly been exposed to an increased risk of pregnancy. The...
Zoloft Lawsuits
A number of Zoloft birth defect lawsuits have been filed recently across the country. The lawsuits have raised claims that Zoloft taken by pregnant mothers have caused severe birth defects, some fatal. The defects include persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH), heart...
Running Makes Student-Athlete with Cerebral Palsy ‘Feel Free’
Cerebral palsy is a physical disorder that, among other things, can cause great difficulty walking and ambulating. But in student-athlete Sean Mitchell's case, he doesn't let cerebral palsy stop him from running track in high school.It's not clear how Mitchell came to...
In Vitro Fertilization: Benefits for Posthumously Conceived Kids?
In vitro fertilization is a well-known medical procedure used to address infertility. The first so-called "test-tube baby" was born in 1978. Today, in vitro fertilization accounts for thousands of births every year (though these births are just a fraction of all...
Erb’s Palsy: Many Infants Fully Recover, Some Never Do
Erb's palsy is a birth injury to an infant's nerves around the shoulder, leading to below-average hand and arm strength in mild cases, to complete paralysis in the most severe cases. Erb's palsy is generally associated with difficult deliveries, often where the baby...
Bill on So-Called ‘Tort Reform’ Unlikely to Pass
As Brett Norman reports for Politico, the everlasting heated exchange between the Republicans and the Democrats is likely to cause any further efforts at so-called tort reform to stall out - one side blames trial lawyers for "out-of-control" medical malpractice...