What Is Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)?
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy occurs when an infant’s brain does not receive enough oxygen before, during, or after birth. HIE can lead to significant physical and cognitive challenges, altering the course of a child’s life. The severity of HIE can vary widely, from mild effects that may improve over time to severe impacts that result in lifelong disabilities. Our personal injury team of legal experts specializes in birth injury cases, particularly those involving HIE.
Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge, support, and legal expertise needed to navigate this difficult time.
Call us now at 305-662-6178 for a FREE CONSULTATION.
What’s Considered Negligence and Malpractice in HIE Cases?
Medical negligence happens when a medical provider doesn’t fulfill their professional duties and breach the standard of care. Florida law defines the prevailing professional standard of care for a given health care provider shall be that level of care, skill, and treatment which, in light of all relevant surrounding circumstances, is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar health care providers.
In most personal injury cases involving HIE, a medical professional may be considered negligent if they did not provide the level of care that can be reasonably expected of any similarly trained professional, meaning that they provided healthcare services that deviated from the medical standard.
In some cases, medical negligence can be the direct cause of harm, such as an HIE-related injury that would have been prevented if a medical professional had fulfilled their duties.
In these cases, medical negligence turns into medical malpractice, and parents are entitled to compensation for the harm their infant experienced and the cost of treatment.
If your infant suffered HIE-related injuries caused by medical negligence, our personal injury lawyers will help your family get the compensation you deserve.
Can Negligence and Medical Malpractice Lead to HIE Cases?
Understanding the root causes of Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) is crucial for families considering legal action. In many cases, HIE may result from negligence or medical malpractice during childbirth.
Identifying and proving this negligence is crucial in your legal journey toward justice and compensation.
- Identifying Negligence: Negligence in HIE cases can manifest in various forms, including failure to monitor the baby’s oxygen levels, delayed C-sections, or improper use of birth-assisting tools. Our law firm has the expertise to identify acts of negligence that contributed to your child’s condition.
- The Role of Medical Experts: Proving negligence requires a deep understanding of medical protocols and standards. We collaborate with renowned medical experts specializing in neonatal care and childbirth to provide authoritative testimonies.
- Gathering Evidence: A successful HIE case relies on solid evidence, including medical records, witness statements, and expert testimonies. Our team gathers and analyzes all relevant information to build a strong foundation for your case.
If you suspect medical malpractice played a role in your child’s birth injury, it’s essential to seek professional legal counsel. Our experienced attorneys are here to evaluate your case, explain your rights, and guide you through each step of the legal process.
Understanding the Statute of Limitations for HIE Cases in Florida
According to Florida Statutes, section 95.11(4)(b), the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is generally two years from the time the incident is discovered or should have been discovered with due diligence.
However, for birth injury cases, there is an extension available: lawsuits must be filed before the child’s eighth birthday. This extension acknowledges the sometimes-delayed manifestations and diagnosis of birth injuries.
Adhering to the statute of limitations is crucial. Failure to file a lawsuit within this period typically results in the loss of the right to seek compensation.
At Panter, Panter & Sampedro, we understand the intricacies of Florida’s laws surrounding birth injuries. Our dedicated legal team is here to provide the guidance and advocacy needed to navigate these challenging times.
Don’t let time diminish your rights. Contact us today for a comprehensive evaluation of your case.
What Causes Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)?
There are multiple causes for HIE, which may occur before, during, or after birth.
Causes During Pregnancy:
- Insufficient blood flow to the placenta
- Diabetes in the mother
- Preeclampsia, which is high blood pressure during pregnancy
- Heart diseases
- Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)
- Anemia, infection, or lung formation issues during the fetal period
- Substance abuse
- Infections that interrupt the blood supply to the baby
Causes During Labor and Delivery:
- Breeding of the placenta caused by abruption or tearing
- Low maternal blood pressure
- Umbilical cord problems
- Rupture of the uterus
Causes After the Baby is Born:
- Severe lung or heart disease
- Infections
- Low blood pressure in the newborn
- Respiratory failure
- Cardiac arrest (abnormal heartbeats)
Which Infants Are at Risk for Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy?
Infants are more likely to develop HIE if the mother or baby experience the following risk factors:
- Preeclampsia
- Issues with the umbilical cord, uterus, or placenta
- Infections in the mother or the newborn
- Heart or lung problems
- Anemia in the fetus
- Internal bleeding in the mother or fetus
- Premature births
- Injuries to the brain or skull
- Positioning issues during delivery, such as having the shoulders stuck for extended periods
How Is Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Diagnosed?
There are multiple ways to identify and diagnose HIE in newborns or children.
The APGAR test may be the first step in diagnosing newborns. It is performed on babies within minutes of their birth, where a medical professional observes the baby’s sensory responses, muscle tone, heart, skin tone, and breathing as a quick test for the baby’s overall health.
Receiving a low score on the APGAR test may indicate that the newborn suffers from HIE, as HIE symptoms sometimes correspond with criteria for low scores, such as having abnormal breathing/heart rate, bluish skin rather than pink, and poor sensory responses to stimuli.
However, other conditions may cause low APGAR scores, so medical professionals may perform additional tests to confirm an HIE diagnosis, including:
- Blood tests
- Spinal fluid tests
- Imaging tests (MRIs and ultrasounds)
- Electroencephalograms (EEGs)
Can Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Be Treated?
After an HIE diagnosis, starting treatment as soon as possible is essential. However, there’s no single treatment for HIE. Instead, medical professionals may use various therapies for the underlying causes of HIE.
Common HIE treatments include:
- Therapeutic Hypothermia: This is currently the primary treatment for newborns diagnosed with moderate to severe HIE. The process involves cooling the baby’s body temperature to around 33.5 degrees Celsius (92.3 degrees Fahrenheit) for 72 hours.
- Supportive Care: This may include maintaining adequate oxygenation and blood flow, managing blood pressure, and providing adequate nutrition.
- Rehabilitation and Ongoing Support: This can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and other interventions designed to help the child reach their full potential.
Fortunately, medical professionals continue to explore new treatments for HIE. This includes research into neuroprotective agents, stem cell therapy, and other innovative approaches that may offer new hope.
Helping Florida Families Recover Maximum Compensation in HIE Cases
Navigating the aftermath of a birth injury like Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy requires not only emotional resilience but also legal prowess.
Panter, Panter & Sampedro stands at the forefront of advocating for families affected by HIE. We are dedicated to helping you recover the maximum compensation, which is not just about addressing immediate medical expenses but also securing your child’s future.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and learn how we can help you fight the consequences of HIE.
Our Personal Injury Case Results Speak for Themselves
Medical Negligence & Birth Injuries
The criteria for medical malpractice in birth injuries is fairly similar to medical malpractice as a whole. That is to say, you have to legally establish a few different facts for your case to proceed. They are as follows:
- A doctor-patient relationship
- A doctor who acted wrongly
- The mistake caused physical harm to the patient
Establishing a doctor-patient relationship means that the physician was seeing the patient throughout the pregnancy, or was overseeing the birth.
A doctor who uses poor judgment, and makes a mistake, may be found to be negligent. This can take a few different forms. As it relates to birth injury, this may include prolonging labor, yanking, or using forceps to deliver the child. In addition, a doctor who has worked long hours may make a mistake due to fatigue. In a court of law, you must prove that the doctor’s care was substandard, which means that they were not acting in a way that a similar doctor would. In order to prove this, usually you need to call in an expert witness.
Finally, you need to prove that the mistake led to harm. For this, you need to prove that there was an injury to the baby. In order to satisfy this step, you need to have a lot of documentation.
Birth Injury Medical Mistakes & How To Prove It
Some medical mistakes that can lead to birth injury or infant death can include:
- Failure to diagnose fetal distress
- Failure to perform a C-section
- Failure to diagnose preeclampsia/eclampsia in the mother
- Injuries to the mother
With any medical malpractice claim, our job is to prove that accepted standards of care were violated and that those violations led to injury or death. Our legal team seeks out the most respected medical experts to establish and clearly demonstrate exactly how the tragic medical mistake could have been avoided with appropriate care.
As in all other areas of litigation, our Miami birth injury lawyers use technological resources such as realistic anatomical models, computer-generated re-creations of surgical procedures, real-life depictions of operations and whatever else is needed to make complex medical issues understandable to a judge or jury.
Birth Injury Malpractice Lawyers You Can Trust
We Strive To Deliver A Better Future For Our Clients & Their Families
Panter, Panter & Sampedro has a team of accomplished birth injury attorneys on staff who are ready to help you with your case. Our firm also has an on-staff critical care nurse to assist in evaluating injuries and arranging for the best birth injury medical care available. If you think that you have a case, you need to take action now. Keep in mind that Florida has a birth injury statute of limitations, which means that you have a limited amount of time where you can present your case.
We understand what you have been through, and have already helped many people throughout the state of Florida deal with very difficult cases involving birth injury medical malpractice.
Don’t hesitate to contact our office at 305-662-6178 for a FREE CONSULTATION.
*On March 24, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 837 reducing Florida’s statute of limitations for general negligence cases from four years to two years. In other words, a lawsuit alleging negligence which accrued after March 24, 2023 must now be filed within two years of the date of the alleged negligence or the claim will be forever barred.
