Zika is a virus passed through mosquitoes that can cause microcephaly, which is a devastating birth defect that shrinks the brain.
We now have brain scan images showing the impact goes even beyond that one birth defect: whole portions of the nervous system, including parts of the brain stem and spinal cord, can go missing. Some portions of the brain that look normal might be filled with fluid. And new research suggests it may impact adult brain cells, too.
It’s a horrifying virus with permanent impact on human life. So it’s no wonder people are calling on Congress and health organizations to combat the spread of these mosquitoes with everything we have.
And yet in many ways, Zika is hard or even impossible to prevent, at least entirely. How do we get rid of every infected mosquito? It could cost billions of dollars and many years to put a stop to this virus.
Were you or someone you love affected by a birth injury?
But what also devastates me is how we allow similar injuries to happen every day that are preventable. Birth defects are not that uncommon in the United States. As a personal injury lawyer in Memphis, I know they afflict new families every day.
Certain medicines are known for being unsafe for pregnant women and their fetuses; certain delivery procedures will cause irreparable damage; and there are times, albeit rare, when a doctor’s negligent behavior leads to a terrible birth injury.
I should make clear we’re not talking about just anything that can go wrong in the delivery room. We’re talking about extreme examples where the doctor, hospital, or pharmaceutical company behaved outside the normal standard of care and made a very big mistake that caused severe damage. In those situations, the family is left with both heartbreak and potentially years of astronomical medical expenses.
Should we pick and choose which children we care about? Are these children’s injuries not just as important?
While we can’t prevent every birth injury case, we can certainly seek justice when it happens. That’s what I do as a birth injury lawyer in Memphis. In these rare but horrible situations, I help families get the financial benefits they need to cover their child’s needs. While it can never make everything right again, it can help their family move forward with strength and dignity.
We can’t make a mosquito cover the cost of Zika, as much as I wish we could. But we can ask that when severe mistakes are made by our health care providers, the affected family doesn’t have to go bankrupt over the health care costs. That is preventable. That’s why we’re here.
If you or someone you love has been affected by a birth injury, contact us today to discuss your situation.