Is Your Child Suffering from HIE? Accepting Cases in Missouri & Kansas.
Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, also known as perinatal asphyxia, birth asphyxia, or neonatal encephalopathy, is a type of brain damage that occurs in newborns who suffer oxygen deprivation and decreased blood flow while in the womb.
Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE, can be broken down and described as:
- Hypoxic, characterized by a lack of oxygen.
- Ischemic, restricting blood flow.
- Encephalopathy, affecting the brain.
A lack of blood flow or lack of oxygen in the blood can cause HIE and is often the result of medical negligence. Due to the serious nature of HIE, it is important to consider whether your child’s condition was caused by malpractice, and if so, whether you can pursue financial compensation for their medical treatment and ongoing care.
Children with HIE often experience developmental delays, feeding problems, trouble breathing, seizures, low muscle tone, and other issues. Depending on the severity of the brain damage, some children with HIE may require extensive medical attention, including ongoing physical therapy, developmental therapy, and more.
Kansas City's Trusted HIE Birth Injury Lawyers
Our Kansas City HIE lawyers at Cullan & Cullan can offer experienced insight if your child suffered a birth injury. As medical doctors and lawyers, we understand just how serious HIE can be and how much it may impact your child’s life – and your life. Our goal is to improve your child’s quality of life to the fullest extent possible.
Our nationally recognized firm has handled countless birth injury cases involving serious conditions like HIE, and we’ve obtained record-setting verdicts on behalf of our injured clients and their families. We understand how difficult it is to cope with the news that your child suffered a birth injury, which is why we’re here to help.
To find out how our HIE attorneys can help, give us a call today at (816) 253-8606. Your initial consultation is free.
Understanding HIE: Causes and Prevention
Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy may have many causes, including:
- Uterine rupture
- Placental abruption
- Umbilical cord compression
- Low maternal blood pressure
- Poor fetal heart monitoring
- Placental blood clots
- Shoulder dystocia
- Umbilical cord prolapse
- Prolonged or difficult childbirth
- Untreated infections
- Delayed C-section
- Premature birth
- Preeclampsia
It will be important to determine whether negligence contributed to your child's condition. If your doctor or a nurse failed to identify fetal distress during delivery or delayed in performing a C-section, and your child suffered from oxygen deprivation as a result, you may have grounds for a valid claim against the responsible party.
The Lifetime Impact of HIE
HIE can be caused by a bewildering number of doctor mistakes and pregnancy-related conditions. Regardless of how the lack of oxygen began, though, HIE is a major medical emergency and often requires an immediate C-section.
When an attending physician fails to act quickly on this knowledge or does not properly diagnose HIE at the time it happens, severe infant brain damage and even death can be the result. Despite advances in brain injury treatment such as infant head cooling, HIE puts your child at risk for a range of cognitive problems and disorders.
HIE can cause the following issues:
- Cerebral palsy
- Impaired motor skills
- Poor infant muscle tone
- Renal disorders and failures
- Gastroparesis and acid reflux disease
- Seizure disorders, like epilepsy and Lennox-Gastaut
- Visual impairment and nystagmus
- Speech and swallowing issues
In the United States, HIE affects nearly 3 in every 1,000 live births, making it the most common form of neonatal brain injury. According to the World Health Organization, it’s also the fifth leading cause of death for children under 5, and up to 60% of survivors have some form of disability made apparent by the age of 2.
If your family has suffered painful losses and extreme medical expenses after an HIE diagnosis, our doctor-lawyer team at Cullan & Cullan can help you begin to set things right by pursuing full recovery from the negligent physician.
Contact Cullan & Cullan for a Free Consultation
Do not delay in seeking counsel, and do not try to go it alone. Work with our Kansas City hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy lawyers and you will receive the level of support and legal counsel you and your child deserve. We are passionate about protecting children who have suffered harm at birth due to the negligence of medical professionals and facilities.
Contact our team at (816) 253-8606 for more information.