Birth Injury Blog

In today’s modern world filled with technological wonder and a focus on the preservation of life, longevity and individual health, medical malpractice would seem to be one the least expected things that comes up in the court of law. Unfortunately, this happens more often than not. Family chose hospital facilities and doctors to care for the newest addition, trusting in the years of experience and dedication that the institution has to offer. Almost never do they expect the worst of things to happen.

From time to time, families find that their child has unfairly been put at risk due to negligence of the hospital staff. In the worst cases, the child suffers irreparable damage as a result. Recently, a 4.3 million Euro settlement was made between and family and a primary care hospital. Though the primary care hospital denied negligence, the family blamed the “substandard” management of his birth for the serious brain-damage the child sustained while in the hospital.

Many people felt that 4.3 million Euros was an outrageous number, but was that truly the case? Recent studies have shown that the financial burden incurred by the family of a severely brain-injured individual exceeds several hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in just medical expenses. This figure does not include the time and wages lost caring for that individual and any other extra accommodations that need to be made as a result.

On top of these expenses, there are several other things that need to be considered that don’t have a monetary value at all. These things include the pain and suffering of the family and the psychological effects that a severe birth injury may have on the child.

Another example of negligence is the accidental overdose of heparin that was administered to the mother and twin infants not long after birth. The potency of the drug was given at 1,000 times the intend dosage! It is precisely this kind of negligence that needs to be rectified by the legal system. And when an institution has to pay several million dollars to correct a mistake, the chance is unlikely that they will commit that mistake once more.

It is always important to check up on the hospital before you decide to entrust your babies life to them. Meet with the faculty; see if they have a level 3, neonatal intensive care unit; ask questions. Do they have ’round-the-clock pediatric and neonatology care on-site? How do you feel about their support team? These are important questions to learn about the place that will bring your new family into the world.

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