Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care professional in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient. A newborn baby depends on the medical expertise of the doctors, obstetricians, and nurses involved with the mother's medical care during pregnancy, delivery, and post-delivery. Medical negligence or medical malpractice, including causing a birth injury, such as brain damage, can be the grounds for a medical malpractice case.
Dr. Bruce Fagel, principal of the Law Offices of Dr. Bruce G. Fagel and Associates, is a top medical malpractice lawyer, and a licensed physician. In a medical malpractice case involving a birth injury, Dr. Fagel uses his legal and medical expertise to explain to a jury the difference between a normal labor and delivery, and one which has gone terribly wrong due to medical malpractice. If the medical malpractice resulted from a medical staff failing to pay attention to the warnings of a fetal heart rate monitor for example, such as the monitor warning the medical staff that the baby's heart rate suddenly and dramatically dropped, and the failure of the staff to take correct and prompt action resulted in a birth injury, the family of the injured baby may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
One example of a medical emergency that may cause the baby's heart rate to drop and show up on the fetal heart rate monitor, would be if a the baby's umbilical cord prolapses and kinks as the infant is moving through the birth canal. If this causes the baby's blood supply to cut off and the baby's heart rate to drop, the fetal heart rate monitor will be able to warn the medical staff to take immediate action to correct the problem. One of the corrective actions may involve an emergency C-section. If the medical staff fails to promptly correct the problem, the baby may sustain severe injuries to the midbrain area, which is the area that affects coordination and motor skills. This could result in the baby getting a type of cerebral palsy where their mental and cognitive functions are normal, but their physical functions will be affected, including having permanent paralysis.
In medical malpractice cases, birth injury lawyers such as Dr. Bruce Fagel must demonstrate to a jury how the actions taken or the lack of actions taken by the medical staff caused the brain damage to the baby. This is why it is imperative that the parents of the birth injury victim consult with the best birth injury attorney possible; especially a medical malpractice attorney who is also a licensed medical doctor. If you believe your baby suffered brain damage from medical malpractice, you should consult with a birth injury attorney such as Dr. Bruce Fagel immediately. You may be entitled to compensation necessary to provide a lifetime of medical care for your child.