Pittsburgh Personal Injury Law Blog

The health care industry is massive. According to the CDC, there are over 18 million health care workers in the United States. If you work in health care, you provide a valuable service to the American people. Your job is to keep people healthy, safe and alive.

Sadly, your job sometimes puts you at risk of various illnesses, injuries and even death. There are a lot of health and safety hazards in the health care environment. Here are some guidelines for staying safe. 

Bringing a little one into the world is, needless to say, one of life's most special moments. With this excitement can come a natural anxiety, especially when it comes to the delivery itself. Today's advanced technologies in medicine have made the birthing process safer, but injuries during delivery nevertheless occur. What can expecting Pennsylvania mothers and families learn to better prepare themselves for this thrilling but serious medical process?

One of the most infamous birth injuries, cerebral palsy can reveal itself long after an injury has happened. According to Cerebral Palsy News Today, there could be new signs that point to this type of birth injury, such as a large head circumference at birth. Using a study from Obstetrics and Gynecology International, the article goes on to share the correlation between large head size and white brain matter damage. Newborns with a head circumference greater than 90th centile were 10 times more likely to suffer from white matter damage. The study also showed that boys were more likely to show signs of brain damage than girls.

Bringing a little one into the family can be an exciting time, but also an overwhelming one. With all of the nursery planning, new scheduling and financial arrangements, doctor visits should be the last worry on the list. However, some Pennsylvania mothers discover that a doctor visit does not go as planned; others even experience trauma during delivery. When a birth injury occurs and a surgeon may be at fault, families may decide to place matters into legal hands.

As Public Opinion reported last April, one Pennsylvania family faced the horror of a birth injury after a doctor allegedly used too much pressure to deliver the baby. As a result, the now-five-year-old will spend the rest of his life with disabilities -- both mental and physical. The child's family received $42 million in a malpractice lawsuit. Public Opinion shared that all had been going well in the delivery until the mother pushed once, which resulted in the doctor using forceps. The doctor continued to use forceps multiple times, causing marks on the baby's face that had begun to show signs of intracranial bleeding. While no amount of money can repair such damage, Opinion noted that this case was the largest medical malpractice case in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Another car hit yours, and the driver persuaded you not to call the police. Perhaps the driver reminded you of yourself when you were younger, or there did not seem to be any injuries or serious damage.

However, you now wonder if you should have called the police. What might happen next?