For new parents, a brain injury is scary. Cooling therapy treatment (sometimes called therapeutic hypothermia) is a therapy designed to slow, or even prevent, the progression of brain damage shortly after birth. The timing of the treatment is critical, making a physician’s decision vital to the child’s future.
However, in some cases, the need for cooling cap treatment is a sign that medical malpractice has occurred. If you believe your child experienced therapeutic hypothermia treatment medical malpractice in Uniondale, a skilled birth injury attorney can help you seek compensation.
Therapeutic hypothermia treatment is a type of therapy used to delicately lower a baby’s body temperature to help the brain recover from injury. The process lowers a newborn’s temperature for 72 hours, slowing the baby’s metabolic rate and allowing cells to recover. When successful, the treatment can prevent the spread and severity of brain damage.
However, the treatment must be administered quickly to be effective.
Therapeutic hypothermia treatment is used to treat hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a type of newborn brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation and impaired blood flow. Reduced blood flow to the brain causes a chain reaction that allows the brain injury to spread in the hours or days after birth. Long-term consequences of HIE include cerebral palsy and other forms of permanent brain damage.
Therapeutic hypothermia treatment in Uniondale disrupts this chain reaction to minimize permanent damage.
To be prescribed cooling therapy, an infant must present certain symptoms or have suffered an oxygen-depriving complication during birth. All too often, these events are related to medical malpractice during pregnancy or birth. Various actions or inactions by medical professionals can lead to HIE, including:
Since the spread of brain damage begins occurring immediately, doctors must decide quickly to utilize therapeutic hypothermia treatment. If a baby undergoes cooling cap treatment after birth, they may have sustained a brain injury during the birthing process. When cooling therapy is necessary, but is delayed or not administered at all, a child can experience preventable brain damage and long-term consequences.
When parents in Uniondale suspect that their baby’s HIE was related to medical malpractice or that therapeutic hypothermia therapy should have been administered, seeking legal assistance is critical to proving negligence occurred. An experienced attorney can investigate the circumstances of the situation and help parents identify their legal options for compensation.
The long-term impact of HIE without treatment can permanently affect your child’s quality of life. Children with HIE often require a lifetime of expensive treatments and therapies. Without assistance, getting the treatment your child needs can be difficult.
If your child suffers from HIE or required cooling cap treatment due to medical malpractice, a lawyer can help you pursue compensation for your child’s injuries. Contact the experienced attorneys at Duffy & Duffy PLLC to learn more about your legal options for compensation related to therapeutic hypothermia treatment medical malpractice in Uniondale.
No. Our injury cases are handled on a contingent retainer. You pay nothing upfront, and we recover attorney’s fees only if your litigation is successful. We don’t bill by the hour. You don’t need to worry about running up a large attorney’s bill before you see any recovery for your injuries.
Yes. Our firm is dedicated to creating a strong relationship with our clients, beginning with keeping your information and consultation confidential.
Each case we encounter is carefully screened and evidence scrutinized to make sure the claim is meritorious and may be successful at trial. We will perform an investigation, and then our partners make a final decision on whether to take on a case.