Did the ER doctor kill my babies?

[prissy80]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Alabama. I am a 27 yr old who suffers from migraines. I have 1 child who is 9 and had no problems. In 2007 I had a spontaneous abortion at 22 weeks after going to the emergency room for my migraine and being given an imitrex shot. In 2008 I experienced the same thing at 19 weeks. I am currently pregnant again and have had no problems. I have been researching whether or not imitrex is safe during pregnancy and everything has said that it is not known whether it is safe or not so it shouldn't be taken. If this is true then why did the ER doctors give me this medicine twice? I couldn't handle an autopsy with the first child but I did with the second. Everything came back normal. I also had 6 vials of blood drawn from me after the second loss and nothing was found to be wrong. What can I do about this?

[justalayman]

there are warnings about the use by pregnant women. As to you having a claim; that would take a lot of investigation into you, your lifestyle, and your health as well as the time frame of the Imetrix use and the miscarriages.

Your best action would be to speak with a personal injury attorney. One that deals specifically with defective drugs and damages cause by drugs would be a good direction to head.

[lya]

Imitrex is a pregnancy class C medication and should not be given during pregnancy unless the benefit outweighs the risk.

Studies have focused on birth defects and not on spontaneous abortions though each study shows a signficant number of incidences of spontaneous abortions (miscarriages).

As far as I know, Imitrex should not have been given until all other medication choices had been tried and only if the migraine headache had placed the mother's other vital signs and physical condition in jeopardy.

A medmal attorney should be able to review the hospital's policies and procedures on the use of Imitrex during pregnancy. If the hospital violated its own policies and procedures, there may be a viable claim of malpractice resulting in fetal death(s).

[lealea1005]

Quote by Lya:
As far as I know, Imitrex should not have been given until all other medication choices had been tried and only if the migraine headache had placed the mother's other vital signs and physical condition in jeopardy.

This is exactly what I was thinking as I read OP's post. Sooo, I would like to know what other medication (OTC or Rx) OP was taking during her pregnancy for migraines. What had she taken before presenting at the ER?

[prissy80]

I was prescribed Tylenol 3 which has codeine in it. I went to the ER because I could not hold anything down and I thought my head was about to fall off. They gave me Phenergan(?) and the imitrex shot. My vitals were fine. Should I get a copy of my medical records?

[lealea1005]

Originally Posted by prissy80

I was prescribed Tylenol 3 which has codeine in it. I went to the ER because I could not hold anything down and I thought my head was about to fall off. They gave me Phenergan(?) and the imitrex shot. My vitals were fine. Should I get a copy of my medical records?

The codeine in the Tylenol 3 could have made the nausea you already had worse, especially if you took it on an empty stomach. Did you inform the ER Physician you took the Tylenol 3? Did they hydrate you with an IV?

Phenergan is used during pregnancy when the benefits justifies the risk to the fetus. From the symptoms you describe, it would seems it's use was appropriate.

As Lya stated earlier:

A medmal attorney should be able to review the hospital's policies and procedures on the use of Imitrex during pregnancy. If the hospital violated its own policies and procedures, there may be a viable claim of malpractice resulting in fetal death(s).

Good luck