Kernicterus & Birth Injury Lawsuits
Our Michigan birth injury lawyers handle cases involving kernicterus. Kernicterus is a severe form of brain damage caused by excessive jaundice in infants. There have been incidents when the infants were not diagnosed and treated properly for jaundice because of caregiver’s negligence. In such circumstances, there may be a child birth injury medical malpractice lawsuit.
Kernicterus Facts
Kernicterus comes from the Greek word ‘kern’ meaning kernel and ‘icterus’ meaning yellow. Kernicterus refers to yellow staining of nuclei of the brain, called the basal ganglia. The condition involves specific part of basal ganglia, called the globus pallidus. Lesions of brainstem nuclei in auditory, oculomotor, cerebellum and vestibular systems are also included in it.
Signs and Symptoms of Kernicterus
Classic kernicterus involves the following:
- Specific movement disorders
- Hear loss or deafness
- impairment in moving the eyes
- abnormal staining
- staining of baby teeth
Testing for Kernicterus
There are plenty of routine and specialty testing services available to diagnose kernicterus such as MRI and PET scans, EMG, EEG, video EEG, metabolic and genetic testing, sleep studies, auditory and neuropsychological testing.
Treatment for Kernicterus
A number of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments are adopted in order to relief patients of kernicterus. Pharmacological treatments include medication, and non pharmacological treatments may include speech therapy, occupational/physical therapy, rehab, botulinum toxic injections and deep brain stimulators.
Fortunately, kernicterus is a rare occurrence. However, the few infants who do suffer from it are very seriously impacted for the rest of their lives.
Contact a Michigan Kernicterus Malpractice Lawyer
If an infant suffers injuries due to kernicterus because jaundice was not timely diagnosed and treated, it can give rise to a medical malpractice lawsuit. Children with severe sepsis often develop conditions that can affect the social, academic and vocational upbringing of the infant. These often require services that amount to a significant expense over a child’s lifetime and are sought as damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
It is essential to contact our office as soon as possible so that we can obtain your child’s complete medical chart to determine whether there was negligence involved in the treatment. There are strict time delays for filing medical malpractice lawsuits in Michigan so it is essential to contact an experienced lawyer as soon as possible to see if your child has valid case.
