The birth of a child should be a time of celebration. However, when a baby suffers oxygen deprivation during birth, leading to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), every second counts. Cool cap therapy, or neonatal therapeutic hypothermia, is a critical medical intervention designed to reduce the risk of permanent brain damage in newborns. While this advanced treatment can be lifesaving, its success depends entirely on strict protocols: correct eligibility assessment, precise timing, and meticulous monitoring during the cooling and rewarming phases.
If a doctor fails to act quickly and a newborn doesn’t receive cool cap therapy in time, you may need to consider pursuing a medical malpractice and birth injury lawsuit. The team at Phillips Law Group can help you determine what your appropriate legal options may be.
“Our neonatologists may recommend cool-cap therapy if the results of diagnostic tests suggest that a baby’s brain was deprived of oxygen during birth,” NYU Langone Hospitals reports.
“The cool-cap technology is based on a simple but effective premise: Lowering the core temperature of a baby’s brain by a few degrees decreases the need for oxygen. In the hours after a brain injury, a baby’s body reacts defensively with an inflammatory response. This treatment relieves inflammation and gives the baby’s brain a chance to rest, reducing the risk of additional brain damage.”
During this treatment, doctors put a small cap that has “cool, circulating water” on a newborn baby’s head, with the temperature regulated to keep the baby’s core body temperature at around 93 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Your baby wears the cool cap for 72 hours,” NYU Langone notes. “During this time, doctors continually monitor your baby’s vital signs and look for signs of neurological damage.”
Devastating lifelong disabilities like cerebral palsy, developmental delays, and cognitive impairments can result if medical professionals fail to administer cool cap therapy to a newborn who may need the important medical intervention. If your doctor didn’t do any of the following, you may need to consider bringing legal action against them:
When a healthcare provider’s negligence during delivery – or in the administration or lack thereof of cool cap therapy – causes a preventable birth injury, they should be held accountable.
These cases are complex, requiring a deep understanding of medical standards of care. Our team of attorneys has successfully handled medical malpractice and birth injury cases in the past and understands how to effectively tackle these complicated cases.
If your child suffered a birth injury and cooling cap therapy was delayed or mismanaged, you deserve answers. The costs of caring for a child with a brain injury for life are enormous, and we know how hard it can be for families going from celebrating one of the greatest joys of life in welcoming a child, to one of the hardest in dealing with a major birth injury and lifelong disability as a result. We want to help.
Our experienced attorneys have the resources and medical knowledge to thoroughly investigate your case, identify the responsible parties, and fight for the compensation your family needs to secure your child’s future. We have more than 30 years of experience as a firm serving our clients, and if we can’t help you, we have the legal field connections and partnerships to potentially connect you with a firm that can.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us today for a free and confidential case evaluation. You are under no obligation to work with us after your initial consultation.
Let us help you determine if medical negligence played a role in your baby’s birth injuries and protect your child’s rights. Fill out the form on this page or call 602-222-2222 to get in touch now.
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