Imagine a world where a vaccine can prevent cerebral palsy. It might happen. Australian researchers say virus exposure in the womb, rather than medical malpractice, is to blame in most cases of CP:
[A] study of 443 Australian children with cerebral palsy and 883 babies without the condition has found that exposure to viruses before and directly after birth can trigger the disorder, which can affect movement, sight, hearing, perception and learning.
Alastair Maclennan, leader of the South Australian Cerebral Palsy Research Group, which published the work in the British Medical Journal, said the findings proved that cases of cerebral palsy should not be dealt with by courts.
"Judgments are made in total ignorance," he said. "(Cerebral palsy) is very rarely due to birth asphyxia."
The most likely culprits according to the study were herpes group B viruses, including the chicken pox.
This has huge ramifications for obstetrics, for the health of babies, for the medical malpractice insurance industry, and obviously, for malpractice lawyers. Here's hoping it's something we can fix--I'm betting we can.
Categories: malpractice, medicine, insurance, pregnancy, cerebral, palsy, virus, asphyxia
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