When you go into the hospital for surgery, you’re not supposed to come out with second and third degree burns.

But, according to some recent research, that’s what’s happening to 550-650 patients a year in this country. Dozens of patients suffer disfiguring burns and some are even killed as a result. This is according to a copyrighted story broadcast on MSNBC.

The problem is that anesthesiologists typically place a mask over the patient’s face during surgery. In addition to anesthesia, the mask often contains highly flammable, pure oxygen. When the surgeon begins to use some of the new, powered surgical tools like electro cardio pencils or lasers, especially near the mask, the result could be a flash fire.

Whatever the source, the head and neck region is grimly suited to hosting fires, especially in a high-oxygen atmosphere.

Like other shocking medical errors, such as objects left behind after surgery or operations on the wrong body part, surgical fires are regarded as a rare problem.

Not all states require hospitals to report these incidents and many are under reporting operating room fires. In fact, many hospitals and doctors have settled the resulting lawsuits out of court and requiring non-disclosure agreements as part of the settlement.

A defective drugs attorney has filed an action on behalf of an infant against Glaxo SmithKline in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.

The infant’s mother was prescribed the antidepressant Paxil during her first trimester by her physician, who was unaware of any warnings that the drug shouldn’t be taken by a woman who is pregnant. The pregnancy proceeded without incident and the baby was delivered at full term.

After leaving the hospital the child began to experience problems and was eventually referred to a pediatric cardiologist. An echocardiogram was performed and the parents were told that the baby had a number of cardiac deformities including severe aoritic stenosis, coarctation of the aortic valve and mitral stenosis.

At only 5 months of age the baby underwent a balloon valvuloplasty to improve blood flow through the aorta. Now, at age five,  this child is scheduled for a another heart operation and will likely have many more before he graduates elementary school.

This family isn’t the only one in this country battling drug manufacturers over adverse side effects. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Glaxo SmithKline claiming that children were born with significant congenital cardiac abnormalities after their mothers used Paxil during pregnancy.

The financial burden of caring for a child or other loved one harmed by defective drugs is enormous. It is important to contact a trained and experienced defective drugs attorney for professional insight into a possible Paxil settlement.

The Reuters news service is reporting that a once-used practice of giving antibiotics to some women at risk of premature birth may have increased the odds their children will develop cerebral palsy and other problems.

The report references a  study published in the journal Lancet, which looked at women at risk of premature labor who had no signs of infection. Doctors now recommend antibiotics only for women whose waters have broken prematurely or have an obvious infection.

The findings reaffirm that doctors should not use antibiotics for premature labor when the mother’s water is intact and if there is no infection, said researchers at the University of Leicester who commissioned the study.

One startling finding, for women whose water did not break and who got two popular antibiotics together, the chance their children would develop cerebral palsy nearly tripled.

While it was known children born prematurely are more prone to functional problems later in life, the link to cerebral palsy was unexpected.