For new parents, there is nothing more heartbreaking than a birth injury. And yet, while not common, they can and do happen. The unfortunate part is that many of these injuries are caused by the very professionals they have entrusted to bring their baby safely into the world. Fortunately, an HIE lawsuit can hold a negligent provider medically and financially liable.
What is Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)?
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain before, during, or soon after birth. Because the lack of oxygen directly affects a baby’s central nervous system, HIE may affect them neurologically and developmentally throughout life.
What Causes HIE?
Many situations can occur before, during, or after a baby’s delivery that can result in HIE.
During the pregnancy, there may be problems with the normal blood flow to the placenta, the baby’s blood count, prenatal infection, preeclampsia, or other congenital issues. During labor and delivery, there may be issues with placental bleeding, umbilical cord issues, presentation of the baby, or the mother’s blood pressure. After delivery, the baby may be found with lung or heart disease, low blood pressure, an infection, respiratory failure, or cardiac arrest.
While many of these are as unavoidable as they are unfortunate, some issues can be caused by or undetected in time by the baby’s delivery team. In some of these cases, it can amount to medical negligence. Getting the guidance of a skilled Minneapolis attorney about an HIE Lawsuit is essential if your baby has been diagnosed with HIE.
What Does Medical Negligence Look Like in an HIE Lawsuit?
Medical negligence, or malpractice, is when providers fail to fulfill their professional obligations – or duty of care – toward their patients. If negligent care causes a baby to become deprived of critical oxygen, it can result in HIE.
What does negligent care look like? Your baby may have been the victim of medical negligence if your provider:
- Made errors in fetal heart rate monitoring
- Failed to promptly or correctly respond to signs of fetal distress
- Mismanaged the birth presentation
- Failed to diagnose or mismanaged issues regarding the placenta, uterus, or umbilical cord.
- Failed to diagnose or monitor a mother with preeclampsia or gestational diabetes
- Failed to perform a timely C-section
How do you know if your provider was negligent? In many cases, you won’t. But if you have concerns about your care before, during, and after your delivery, it’s important to discuss this with a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy lawyer so you can understand your rights and how you may be able to take steps to hold that provider accountable.
Holding a Provider Accountable
Dealing with the immediate symptoms of a birth injury can be costly on its own. However, HIE can lead to other long-term complications such as seizures, difficulty eating, impaired hearing and vision, cerebral palsy, orthopedic issues, and cognitive disabilities. These can require ongoing and costly treatments and support. If negligence was at play, you may be able to hold your provider liable for these costs and your other damages.
HIE lawsuits tend to be complex. If you suspect that your healthcare provider’s negligence caused your child’s hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, it’s important to get experienced professional advice to discuss your legal options. At Kuhlman Law, our experienced lawyers in Minneapolis can help you hold your provider accountable when it comes to an HIE lawsuit. Call us at (503) 479-3646 or contact us through our online contact form to schedule a no-cost consultation.
Disclosure:
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user, or browser; Kuhlman Law, LLC, and its members do not recommend or endorse the contents of the third-party sites.
Readers of this website should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information on this site without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of and access to this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website authors, contributors, contributing law firms, or committee members and their respective employers.
The views expressed at, or through, this site are those of the individual authors writing in their individual capacities only – not those of their respective employers, Kuhlman Law, LLC, or committee/task force as a whole. All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this site are hereby expressly disclaimed. The content on this posting is provided “as is;” no representations are made that the content is error-free.
