United Brachial Plexus Network

The hospital I work for is going to purchase this webcast and then discuss some cases of shoulder dystocia that we've experienced in our labor and delivery unit over the past year as a form of education for the OB's and CNM's. The head of our OB department asked me if I would attend as well. I was wondering if anyone is familiar with Henry M. Lerner, MD who is the speaker at this webcast. I'm going to do a search on him, but his name doesn't ring any bells for me. Thanks.

Tanya in NY
Amber's Mom, ROBPI, almost 4 years old

Shoulder Dystocia and Brachial Plexus Injury - November 14

Henry M. Lerner, MD, FACOG

This webcast will provide a comprehensive review of shoulder dystocia, focusing on etiology, incidence, risk factors, and management. After completing this course, participants will be able to:

* Identify risk factors for shoulder dystocia and assess their relative predictive value
* Understand strategies for the prevention of shoulder dystocia and their limitations
* Discuss the techniques for resolving shoulder dystocia and the evidence for and against physician causation of fetal injury during such attempts
* Learn how to explain and document the management of shoulder dystocia, especially the element of traction


ACOG?s webcast programs for 2006 are designed to help the busy medical practice stay current with coding, professional liability, practice management and quality issues. Physicians, practice administrators and staff will find these Webcasts beneficial.

Webcast participants need a telephone and a computer with Internet capability. The registration fee covers one phone line and one Internet connection from each site, but you may have an unlimited number of participants on each line. If registering several different sites, each site must register separately. Fees are as follows:

Residents: $139; Members: $159; Non-Members: $179

Each webcast activity is approved for AMA Category 1 credit; the specific number of CEU?s approved for each webcast will be listed on the Postgraduate Course registration page for each webcast. Additional information, including registration forms for these and other ACOG postgraduate courses, is available at: http://www.acog.org/postgrad/index.cfm.

Webcasts are presented from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. Instructions for logging into the webcast and any written materials will be sent by e-mail the day before the webcast. When registering, be sure to use the e-mail address of the person who should receive the written materials and log-in information.

He has a very comprehensive website, and he is from MA.

http://www.shoulderdystociainfo.com/index.htm

Contact Web Site Director

Henry Lerner, M.D.
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Newton, Massachusetts
Instructor, Harvard Medical School
1-617-332-2092
Dr. Lerner is a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist in Newton, Massachusetts. In addition to having delivered over 8000 babies (of which approximately 100 involved shoulder dystocias), Dr. Lerner has been active in seeking to elucidate the causes of shoulder dystocia and to find better means of predicting them and resolving them when they do occur. Most recently Dr. Lerner has become affiliated with LMS Medical Systems, a risk reduction technology firm in Montréal Canada that is developing approaches for shoulder dystocia prediction.




He is involved apparently with the outfit providing mathematical probablity software for predictiing SD. Most of his website is accurate, but I have a hard time agreeing with some of his statements.

Thanks for the info Rich. I agree, most of the information is good on his website, but some of it is erroneous and hard to grasp. I've let my colleagues know about his website and that he is affiliated with LMS and the CALM SD stuff. Thanks again.

Tanya in NY

I'm all for seeking out ways to prevent bp injuries, but this guy has been around for awhile, and I question his intentions. This man has always left a bad taste in my mouth. His site is written in such a slanted way, in favor of the defendant. He even down played Allen's study on traction.
Look at his page on causation.
http://www.shoulderdystociainfo.com/all ... caused.htm
Check out the tractor trailer theory, please....
I remember O'Leary's lecture at camp in New York. He called it the intrauterine whiplash theory and stated that the baby's head only descends 1cm/hr, that the pressure from contractions stem from the upper uterus, the head and neck are in the lower part, and in no way can contractions cause this injury. Labor pressure can not injured deeply placed and protected nerves.
If you do have the opportunity to view this webcast, please share with us what it entailed.

It seems to me he is more interested in how to defend bpi cases, and plans on spreading his CYA theories to other ob's.

I concur with what you say Allison. That is what I didn't like about his website. He definitely seems alligned with the perception that the injuries are not due to malpractice.