There is nothing sadder than the death of a child. It pains me terribly when clients meet with me after their child has been injured or killed, and whatever I feel is nothing compared to their pain. That pain is compounded when the injury or death was caused by another person’s negligence. That negligence is made worse when the person or person who injured the child was a medical provider charged with healing them.
Fetal Strokes
A stroke is an event where blood flow to the brain is restricted, causing death of brain cells, brain damage, and death. Many types of injuries result from a stroke, including cognitive deficiencies, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy. A “fetal stroke” occurs while the baby is the womb.
As a personal injury attorney, injured people often meet with me to ask whether they can bring a claim against a doctor, nurse, other medical professional who may have caused a fetal stroke, leading to an injury or death of a child. As a result of these frequent inquiries, I thought it would be useful to describe what makes a fetal stroke claim in Mississippi. One thing is critical to state up front—you will need to have experienced personal injury counsel help you attain any settlement from a medical provider. Barrett Law has the experience to help you through this process. Contact us now at (800) 707-9577.
What is Negligence?
Believe it or not, accidents do happen. There is a difference between something accidentally or unavoidably occurring during a medical procedure and negligence. You cannot recover damages based simply on an unfortunate, unavoidable occurrence, but you may be able to recover a tremendous settlement once negligence is established. But how is medical negligence different from an accident? Negligence means that a health care professional or health care-associated establishment fails to provide care in line with the generally accepted standard of care, and the individual is injured as a result.
What Does the “Standard of Care” Mean?
Simply put, malpractice occurs when the patient’s medical care does not meet current medical standards. This failure may be due to a physician or medical provider not staying current with their training, a failure to perform the correct procedure at the right time, a failure to adequately supervise or train nurses and other support staff, or poor sanitation within the medical environment.
What is the Standard of Care in Fetal Stroke Cases?
Fetal stroke can have a number of causes, one of them being medical malpractice. Commonly, I see cases here in Mississippi where a physician inappropriately uses a vacuum extractor during labor or where efforts to pull a baby through the birth canal result in harm to the child’s nervous system.
What Should You Do If Your Child Suffered a Fetal Stroke?
If your child was injured or killed as a result of a fetal stroke, no amount of legal help will ease your sadness. However, some of the neurological conditions caused by fetal stroke are extremely expensive, and you deserve to be compensated if those conditions were the result of malpractice. Sadly, I sometimes speak with Mississippi clients whose children have died as a result of fetal stroke; they are sometimes offered a quick settlement in exchange for your agreement not to pursue a legal challenge. Do not accept these “low-ball” offers, as tempting as they may be at the time.
Instead, contact an experienced personal injury attorney immediately. Let experienced personal injury counsel take care of preserving medical records, dealing with aggressive opposing counsel, attaining expert diagnoses, and dealing with insurance companies. These are important tasks that an only a personal injury attorney can handle for you. If they are handled poorly by an attorney without numerous personal injury cases under his or her belt, they may be done ineffectively, costing you a tremendous amount of compensation.
Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered an injury that you believe is due to medical malpractice.
Barrett Law has the experience to take on defense attorneys and insurance companies that are focused on denying your compensation for your injuries. Contact us now at (800) 707-9577.
