After hours of pushing, Michelle Morales' labor was not progressing. As exhausted as she was, Morales thought she was going to keep trying to deliver the baby. But instead, her obstetrician asked nurses to bring in a device called a vacuum extractor. Placing a soft suction cup on the baby?s emerging head, the doctor eased Landon Harrington into the world at 4 pounds, 3 ounces on Sept. 30, 2009. Landon now is a beautiful little boy with serious disabilities. He is blind, has cerebral palsy and likely will never walk on his own. His parents and their lawyer blame brain hemorrhaging caused by the vacuum extraction device. They contend it should never have been used on a preterm infant like Landon, who arrived five weeks early, and he should have been delivered by caesarean section.
