Medical Devices and Birth Injuries

What Types of Defective Products Cause Injury?

Several products may cause injury to you and/or your child when they are defective, such as:

• Devices (like tracheostomy tubes)
• Medications
• Feeding formulas
• Car seats
• CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) devices
• Toys
• Cribs
• Strollers

Whilst defective products are certainly the fault of manufacturers, medical professionals can be held liable and accused of medical malpractice if they utilize such products and devices without performing the necessary quality control checks. E.g., a surgeon who inserts a faulty tracheostomy tube into a newborn during an emergency surgery can be accused of medical malpractice since they did not quality check the structure and functioning of the device before inserting it. This is serious, as such negligence could result in a severe birth injury or even death. 

Based on this example, it can be seen that several hazards and injuries can result from defective medical devices. These typically include:

• Discomfort or harm
• Cuts or laceration
• Burns
• Choking
• Oxygen deprivation
• Strangulation
• Losing an appendage or limb
• Asphyxiation
• Suffocation
• Death

Due to the severity of these hazards, medical professionals are obligated to report faulty medical products and devices to their manufacturers so that they may issue a recall of the product from the market. In fact, not informing medical manufacturers is another type of medical malpractice. 

Legal Matters

Due to the severity of medical malpractice, as it relates to birth injuries, the state laws of NYC indicate that you must file your medical malpractice lawsuit promptly to comply with the statute of limitations. The best course of action for you to take when pursuing such an endeavor is to consult with a qualified medical malpractice lawyer.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are complex procedures that require you to prove various things to present a viable case. By consulting with a qualified NYC medical malpractice attorney, you will be able to fulfill the four legal elements critical for your medical malpractice claim to be valid. These include:

1. Indicating that your doctor had a professional and legal obligation to provide adequate care to you and/or your child
2. Showing that your doctor breached this obligation by failing to adhere to the quality standards of care of their profession
3. Proving that your and/or your child’s injury resulted from this obligatory breach
4. Proving that the resulting injury to you and/or your child is something which the legal system can provide redress and compensation

Contact

If you believe that you and/or your child may have experienced some form of birth injury from a medical product or device, please contact the medical malpractice lawyers of Rosenburg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff LLP in NYC today.

You can speak to one of our medical malpractice attorneys by calling 212-344-1000 for a free, confidential consultation.