A New York Birth Injury Lawyer Can Help with Antibiotic Overdose Cases

According to a recently concluded study, the moment a doctor lends a hand in administering too much antibiotics to his pregnant patient, this could get him in big trouble—at least according to the researchers’ conclusions.

If definitive proof is found, then a local New York birth injury lawyer may have a new job dimension at hand. The research conducted at two prestigious London universities analyzed more than 195,000 patient records, and found that over 64,000 of women have been prescribed with antibiotics to combat some illnesses during their pregnancy. Two antibiotics were put in the spotlight, namely penicillin and macrolides.

Of the two, penicillin seemed to not have a major stride. Two-thirds of the patients in the study were prescribed penicillin during their pregnancies, and data showed no increase in the incidence of babies developing cerebral palsy or epilepsy. Those who were prescribed macrolides, however, were more likely to have babies with cerebral palsy or epilepsy—a 10 in 1,000 probability as opposed to penicillin’s 6 in 1,000.

Macrolides are antibiotics occasionally used to fight bacterial infections during pregnancy, and are also prescribed if a patient is allergic to penicillin (or if the infection is immune to penicillin). There are three existing types of macrolides: erythromycin, clarithromycin, and azithromycin; of which erythromycin is the most commonly given to penicillin allergics.  The 10 in 1,000 probability of having a cerebral palsy-ridden baby for mothers translates to a massive 78 percent increase in risk, which isn’t a comfortable number by all means.

While the data seemed compelling, though, experts still found it unreliable. For one, a direct comparison between the two groups can be marred by confounding factors, such as the type and severity of infection. However, experts agree to the fact that select antibiotic use during pregnancy has the potential to cause inborn abnormalities in newborn babies. The authenticity of this concept can be boiled down into these words: there is no such thing as a perfectly risk-free medical intervention.

One thing is for sure. There may be instances when pregnant women should be allowed to take antibiotics as prescribed, as the risk of an untreated infection can be catastrophic. This has to be done sparingly, though, because an overdose of antibiotics is never a far-off thought, considering that negligent medical practitioners could be lurking in every corner. When that happens, the only one who can help is a trusted cerebral palsy lawyer in New York such as the Law Offices of Joseph Lichtenstein. Medical negligence doesn’t pay, and all who might’ve had a hand in causing ills to an unsuspecting infant should be held liable.

(Source: Epilepsy & Cerebral Palsy Linked To Antibiotics During Pregnancy, Injury Lawyer News, April 1, 2015)