Illinois NICU Injury Attorney
Babies usually go to a neonatal intensive care unit to recover from serious birth injuries or because they need special attention to prevent such injuries. Unfortunately, many of these fragile newborns get worse instead of better when they stay in a NICU. Frequently, too much of a good thing causes such injuries. Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) is a good illustration. Infants, especially premature infants, have underdeveloped lungs. Extended time on a ventilator, a staple of most generic NICU care plans, could cause this often fatal condition.
The diligent Illinois NICU injury attorneys at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman never use a one-size-fits-all approach to your birth injury claim. Instead, we customize our approach, at least to an extent, based on the facts of the case, the family’s needs and goals in a case, and a few other factors. However, in many ways, our approach doesn’t change. We carefully collect evidence that supports your claims and refutes insurance company defenses. We also thoroughly research the law, so your case is always on the cutting edge.
What Causes NICU Injuries?
Usually, the NICU healthcare team is completely different from the PLDR (prenatal, labor, delivery, and recovery) healthcare team. NICU healthcare teams usually have special experience and training in this area. The care transition is usually very quick, and it often takes place under difficult circumstances. So, fumbled handoffs are common, and these fumbles often lead to serious injuries.
Somewhat similarly, lack of information, specifically gaps in information, could cause a serious NICU injury as well. Charting errors are a good example. Many medical professionals keep handwritten or mental notes and place these notes into a chart later. So, when a baby goes to the NICU, especially if the transition is unusually rushed, the latest medical charts, and the latest medical information, may be unavailable.
Finally, a lack of vision could cause a NICU injury. The new healthcare team often doesn’t know the family. They do not know the family’s special needs and particular goals in an emergency healthcare situation. If the NICU healthcare team is not on the same page with the family in this area, the baby could pay the price.
Damages Available
A newborn NICU injury could mean a lifetime of very high medical bills, considering necessary revision surgery and maintenance healthcare. Lost wages come into play as well. Frequently, at least one parent leaves his/her job to become a full-time caregiver in these situations.
Victims badly need compensation for these current and future economic losses. Without such compensation, they would most likely have to depend on taxpayer-funded government programs. In other words, you and I would pay for a doctor’s medical mistake. That’s simply not right. We all make mistakes, and we should all accept responsibility for the mistakes we make.
The losses in a birth injury claim are not limited to economic losses. These families must also endure substantial pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other noneconomic losses. No one should have to endure such things after incidents that were not their fault. Victims not only deserve this compensation. They need it in order to obtain closure.
Compensatory damages are usually insufficient in medical negligence cases. Unless these doctors must pay substantial punitive damages, they will most likely repeat the same mistakes and chalk up the losses to the cost of doing business. Birth injury victims have a moral responsibility to protect other families if they can. Punitive damages could be the key in this area.
Rely on an Experienced Chicago Cook County Attorney
Injury victims are usually entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced NICU injury attorney in Chicago, contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman by going online or calling 410-567-0800. We handle these claims on a nationwide basis.
