The "Baby Moses" Law: A Case for Improving Medicolegal Education for Pediatric Trainees.

Medicolegal education is not standardized for medical student or pediatric resident trainees throughout the United States. However, trainees will inevitably face patient encounters in which knowing state and federal laws are integral in properly treating and caring for the patient. Here, we present the case of treating an abandoned infant in Texas, the Baby Moses law, and how knowing state and federal laws enhance trainees' understanding and ability to care for their patients. We then discuss the paucity of medical literature surrounding medicolegal education curricula and the need for the development of a national curriculum on medicolegal education that starts in medical school and extends throughout residency and subspecialty training.

Impact of Early Life Antibiotic Exposure and Neonatal Hyperoxia on the Murine Microbiome and Lung Injury.

Cross talk between the intestinal microbiome and the lung and its role in lung health remains unknown. Perinatal exposure to antibiotics disrupts the neonatal microbiome and may have an impact on the preterm lung. We hypothesized that perinatal antibiotic exposure leads to long-term intestinal dysbiosis and increased alveolar simplification in a murine hyperoxia model. Pregnant C57BL/6 wild type dams and neonatal mice were treated with antibiotics before and/or immediately after delivery. Control mice received phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Neonatal mice were exposed to 95% oxygen for 4 days or room air. Microbiome analysis was performed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Pulmonary alveolarization and vascularization were analyzed at postnatal day (PND) 21. Perinatal antibiotic exposure modified intestinal beta diversity but not alpha diversity in neonatal mice. Neonatal hyperoxia exposure altered intestinal beta diversity and relative abundance of commensal bacteria in antibiotic treated mice. Hyperoxia disrupted pulmonary alveolarization and vascularization at PND 21; however, there were no differences in the degree of lung injury in antibiotic treated mice compared to vehicle treated controls. Our study suggests that exposure to both hyperoxia and antibiotics early in life may cause long-term alterations in the intestinal microbiome, but intestinal dysbiosis may not significantly influence neonatal hyperoxic lung injury.