United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Our son was born with Erbs Pasly after the Dr. did not use the proper techniques. Our son, Owen Abshire, was born Sept. 27th, 2002. My wife's water broke at 7cm and there was very dark green fluid "meconium" was present. We knew the baby was past due because our Ultra-sound due dates were Sept. 11th, 2002. The ultra-sounds also revealed that the baby was going to be big. In any regards, at 10cm, the Dr. showed up and immediately placed a suction cup on Owen's head and pulled with all her might. She even put both feet on the table in front of her. Then she made a cut and after the head came out, tried to suction the lungs, but she had trouble and panic'd. She continued pulling and the shoulder was stuck, so the Dr. made another cut. The Dr. pulled and twisted and my wife pushed with all her might and Owen finally came out with a paralyzed left arm. The Dr.'s medical report said that she noticed the meconium during the delivery and we still agreed to have a normal delivery. The Dr. also said that she used the McRoberts position and other corkscrew tecnique's that dislodged the shoulder easily.

I wish our trouble ended there, but our son is 4 1/2 months old and still hasn't seen a therapist. Our Pediatrician's office is making excuses about why they are so slow getting referral's with "Lost Paperwork", "Incomplete Paperwork", "Didn't Know he Needed it", "Insurance Fault", etc..etc. We are so stressed out because we know he might need surgery soon and have to take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for it just because our Pediatrician's office is careless.

Owen's arm was completely immobile for the first month, but he was able to move his hand and fingers. In the second month, he began raising it laterally in front of him with no bend. In month three, we have seen no or little signs of improved raising or bending of his elbow. Now he is over 4 months old and trying to crawl and he uses his right arm to pull his left arm over to his tummy. We work with him constantly by rotating his arm and supinating his wrists, etc.

We made an appt. to go to TX for surgery out of our own pocket. We have called our Pediatrician, Medical Insurance, Medical Group, etc so much that we are emotionally drained without hope. My monthly insurance costs is approx. $800, and I can't use it if our Dr. does not put in referral's to see specialists.

We sought an attorney who looked at the medical records and said we did not have a case, but he didn't know the Dr. lied in her report. The attorney never asked us or any witnesses in the room about it. What should we do?

Roy,
please post your message on the general board ASAP. Many more people read that board and I'm sure you'll get a much better and quicker response.
Here's the good news: you found the UBPN site. It took me a few years before I got plugged in.
You have many different topics in your message that can be responded to.
1) Careless, inconsiderate pediatrician.
If you have the option, I would drop him/her like a hot potato. It sounds like they are not looking after the best interests of you and Owen. If dropping isn;t an option, I would make a trip to the office and not leave until I was satisfied. Don't go there angry, just with a lot of determination and drive. Bring a cell and call the Ins. company while you're there. Connect the dots, no one will do it for you.
2) Therapy and Diagnostics
Get therapy!!! Get diagnostics!!! These early months are the most critical. You must know where Owen stands with respect to active (by himself) range of motion and (especially important) passive (moved by some one else) range of motion. A trained professional can precisely measure all these things and chart any improvements. It's great that you're doing some movements, but you need to do the right ones (based on his unique situation). All therapists, like docs, are not familiar with BPI. Search around ask questions. There are Occupational therapists and Physical therapists each do their own thing (fine motor skills vs. flexibility and strengthening.)
Get diagnostics, call your insurance company. This situation is WHY you have insurance. It's not for those routine check-ups. There is MRI's and EMG/Nerve Conduction. Yes, these are expensive procedures, but any decent insurance plan will cover (at least most of the cost.) You need to determine the extent of the injury to the nerves and which ones (Avulsion - tear at root, rupture - tear but away from the root, stretch - not as severe and may partially heal, or nueroma - scar tissues that block nerve message signals).
Lawsuit!!!
Don't stop!!! We initially saw a lawyer who knew about trails and personal injury, but he knew squats about BPI's. He was cocky, like we we're lucky he didn't charge us for a consultation. He wanted us to pay 1/2 the cost of his "expert witness" from FLA or maybe Boston. We ran from his office and later found an excellent attorney. We explained what happened and then he explained how it happens. It was the first time some showed us (with a doll and a mock skeleton of the lower abdominal area) how shoulder dystocia happens and how it looks.
Remember, Owen can't defend himself, YOU have to do it for him. His life was changed forever in those few fleeting moments that things could have been (probably) better handled. He will have a lot of needs. There are 2 parts to most malpractice suits: Economic (lost wages and medical bills), and Emotional (pain and suffering.) Owen will have a suit and most likely your wife will too. Not because of the extra cuts., etc, but because her economic and emotional life has changed as well.
The water's cold the swim is long, but take a deep breath and jump in!!! Maybe if you post the area you live in, people can e-mail the name of a good attorney to you.
Don't allow you, your wife, or Owen to be victims!!! Take charge!!! Stay plugged into this board for support. Also check out www.injurednewborn.com for some great info.
Start tomorrow!!

Roy
I live in the UK and so I can't be of much help regarding your insurance or legal issues, what I CAN tell you is that there is a Shriners hospital with an expert in bpi called DR Scott Kozin and If I am correct (someone will correct me if I have this wrong hopefully) the surgery and treatment at Shriners is free of charge. I Have met Dr Kozin and he certainly seems to have a good relationship with his patients and is earning a good reputation in the BPI field, I think the Shriners he works at is In PA ???
if you post on the general message board or do a search on the net, you will be able to locate him.
TCH is not the only place doing bpi surgery and if finance is a problem then hopefully Shriners might be able to help - of course that's if you are able to get to it distance wise - sorry, I'm afraid I don't know how far you are away from them!
Good luck, keep us informed
Karen

Owen.

First, I want you to know we all know what you are going through. It is a very difficult thing you and your family are going through right now. You ened to take everything one step at a time. Right off the bat, the baby got a lot back. It is really helpful that they have hand motion and that they can move the arm a little bit. That means they did get some back on their own and ever little bit helps.

Karen was correct. Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia, PA does not charge for the surgeries. this could be another option for you if Texas does not work out for you. You can e-mail the surgeon at Shriner's directly. His name is Dr. Scott Kozin. His e-mail address is skozin@shrinenet.org.

My son just had the muscle tendon transfer done there. The hospital and the doctor were both great. Texas is a wonderful hospital as well. Generally the first surgery (nerve graft, etc.) should be done by the time the baby is 1 year old, so you have time to look at options and get the most information you can.

If I can be of any help to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be more than happy to talk with you.

Thanks and let me know if I can hekp in any way.

Michael

Thank you all so much for your feedback. It helps give us the strength we need to continue our battle. The battle we are facing is with our Pediatrician's office. Owen finally saw a Therapist 2 weeks ago, but it was only for an evaluation. We continue to wait for our Dr.'s office to process the actual referral for us so he can get regular visits. We are hoping that our Insurance will allow us to go to TX and change Dr.'s after that. Changing Dr.'s is a must!! I will seek an attorney if I can do anything about it. We are from Fontana, CA.