Babies, Brain Injuries and Allegations of Medical Malpractice

A recent post on the New York Times’ Well blog addresses an all-too-common situation where doctors are blamed for brain injuries that appear a few days into a newborn’s life. The assumption by the baby’s parents is that these injuries are a result of a lack of oxygen during labor or delivery, and their first inclination is to file a claim of medical malpractice, citing the doctor’s negligence in the delivery room.

Neonatal encephalopathy has a variety of causes, however, and the post references a new, informative study suggesting that many conditions that occur “during or even before pregnancy can lead to neurological damage to full-term babies.” The authors of the report encourage the sharing of data relating to problematic deliveries, hoping it will assist in the identification of preventable causes of brain injuries in infants. At MLMIC, we hope it will also decrease the number of lawsuits alleging malpractice by the treating physicians.

To read the NYT post, click here.