Chicago Illinois Personal Injury Law Blog

You have just been told that you are pregnant and you are ecstatic! You have been trying for so long to get pregnant and now you will finally be a mother. Your joy is somewhat tempered by the thought, "Can my antidepressants harm my baby?" but you figure that your doctor would tell you to stop taking your medicine if it would risk the health of the child and he or she hasn't said anything. Several months later, your child is born in Chicago with a birth injury and you are left wondering what happened.

It is possible that if your doctor had told you that certain antidepressants can negatively affect a fetus you would have been able to wean yourself off of your medications and your child would have been born healthy. Unfortunately, your doctor let you continue taking your medications and never discussed the risk of fetal injury. Whether your child has suffered withdrawal symptoms after he or she was born or something more serious, such as autism, a heart defect or some other injury, an Illinois birth injury attorney can explain your options for pursuing compensation for medical negligence.

A 17-year-old boy was allegedly killed last July near Chicago on Lake Michigan at the hands of a man whose sister began a fight over the Fourth of July holiday. Now, the boy's parents are filing a wrongful death lawsuit in circuit court against that man and members of his family. The lawsuit also says the mother of the man allowed her under-age children to consume alcohol at the beach.

According to the surviving family members' allegations, the sister became verbally and physically abusive after becoming drunk on the beach. She struck the 17-year-old's friend, and although the friend was not violent himself, the woman asked her 19-year-old brother to come and fight the friend. Sadly, the brother arrived and hit the 17-year-old instead of the friend. The 19-year-old's sister never mentioned that the 17-year-old was not involved in the alleged altercation.

When the driver of Chicago Fire Engine Number 62 saw a car stopped, he or she assumed it had stopped from the fire truck. Unfortunately, the driver started driving again and moved the car right in front of the fire engine, making it impossible for the truck to avoid causing a car accident. Now, the 18-year-old driver has been charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence, but prosecutors are looking to increase the charge to a felony.

Despite the size of the fire engine, several of the firefighters were injured in the accident. Four firefighters were taken to MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island and were admitted in good condition. Luckily, all the passengers in the 18-year-old's sedan were not fatally injured, but the car was crushed and caved in.

Parents in Chicago may find it alarming that six out of every 1,000 children born in the country will have some form of birth injury, but there are options for parents who believe their doctor contributed to or caused their infant's birth injury. Delivery room errors can lead to serious problems and a lifetime of medical care and expenses for some children, but an experienced medical malpractice attorney could help Illinois parents get compensation from their doctor, in order to cover the extra costs of dealing with a birth injury.

According to some people in the birth injury field, delivery room negligence is a very common occurrence. Sometimes a nurse will fail to monitor a woman's labor, sometimes a doctor will use his or her forceps incorrectly, and sometimes a health professional will administer the incorrect drugs during labor, all of which can cause significant damage to an otherwise healthy infant.