Chad Meyers | November 19, 2025 | Personal Injury
Infant shudder syndrome is a harmless condition that causes a baby to shake for a brief period. Because it’s relatively uncommon, these shuddering attacks often lead to misdiagnoses. This could result in unnecessary treatments for your child that could put their health at risk.
In this blog post, you can learn more about this condition and determine whether you can file a medical malpractice claim after your child experiences infant shudder syndrome.
Understanding Infant Shudder Syndrome
These types of infant shakes can be frightening to see. They involve your baby rapidly moving their head, shoulders, or sometimes their whole body. Shuddering attacks are involuntary movements that are not fully understood by the medical community. Although the episodes are brief and generally don’t last more than a few seconds, they can be frightening for parents.
This often leads them to take their child to the doctor, where problems can arise. Because it’s not a well-understood issue, the doctor may decide to run numerous tests on your child. They may even conclude that your baby has epilepsy. This diagnosis leads to the prescription of anticonvulsant medications, which carry significant risks.
Dangers of Anticonvulsants For Healthy Infants
Anticonvulsant medications can be harmful for children who have seizures if they’re continued for too long, so it’s expected that they could also pose dangers to infants with shudder syndrome. These drugs make infants less responsive to feedings and affect how they interact with the world around them.
In children who have infant shudder syndrome, there are no benefits at all to anticonvulsant medications. Instead, they are exposed to potentially neurotoxic effects from medicines like phenobarbital. This could lead to brain injuries and permanent damage to cognitive function, or even a wrongful death.
What Does Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim Require?
If your child’s doctor misdiagnosed infant shudder syndrome as something else and began treatments that have resulted in losses, then it’s possible to file a medical malpractice claim. Unlike other personal injury claims, you have to demonstrate that another professional in the same field would not have made the error that led to your child’s injuries.
Such a case would require getting testimony from medical professionals who can corroborate that your child was injured because of a preventable error. Gathering evidence to show this isn’t easy, especially if you’re having to also worry about your injured baby.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Tennessee?
You may not realize that you’re running out of time to file a claim, too, since Tennessee has statutes of limitations for these cases. You typically have one year from when the injury occurred or one year from when you discovered that your child sustained harm. This is a very limited amount of time for claims as complex as these.
For all of these reasons, it’s vital that you don’t hesitate to hire a medical malpractice attorney to assist you through this process. An attorney will be able to investigate how the malpractice occurred and gather the evidence necessary to fight for fair compensation.
Contact Our Nashville Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Consultation
If your baby has sustained injuries because of a misdiagnosis, the very next thing you should do is speak with an attorney about your legal options. With assistance, you can pursue fair compensation without having to worry about filing legal paperwork. You don’t have to go through this difficult moment on your own.
Call Meyers Personal Injury Law to schedule a free consultation with one of our Nashville medical malpractice lawyers. We work on a contingency fee basis, allowing you to access our legal services without incurring substantial financial risk.
If you were injured in an accident in Nashville or Brentwood and need legal help, contact our Nashville personal injury lawyers at Meyers Personal Injury Law to schedule a free case review today.
Meyers Personal Injury Law Nashville
1308 Rosa L Parks Blvd Suite 101,
Nashville, TN 37208
(615) 258-9000
Meyers Personal Injury Law Brentwood
105 Continental Pl Suite 100,
Brentwood, TN 37027
(615) 258-9000
