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Minneapolis Medical Malpractice Lawyers > Minneapolis NICU Lawyer

Minneapolis NICU Lawyers

Modern hospitals are fully-equipped to deal with almost any medical emergency. Usually, Neonatal Intensive Care Units feature incubators for preterm infants. Typically, infants must stay in these incubators until they reach term growth (i.e. a baby born at twenty-eight weeks requires a twelve-week NICU stay). Additionally, these hospital units are staffed with professionals who have additional qualifications. Because of these extensions, the average NICU stay costs about $3,000 a day.

The dedicated Minneapolis NICU lawyers at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman have these same qualities. But instead of leveraging them to make money, we leverage them for our clients. Our firm has considerable resources. These resources include professional partnerships with top experts in the field. Additionally, the people on our professional team have additional qualifications and experience when it comes to medical negligence. Anything else would not be good enough.

Issues in NICU Referral Matters

When doctors admit babies to NICUs, they are basically admitting their own failures. And, no one likes to admit failure. Usually, the shortcoming involves a failure to identify risk and/or a failure to respond appropriately.

SD (Shoulder Dystocia) is a good example. The warning signs of SD, such as an overweight mother, LGA (Large for Gestational Age) fetus, or a history of difficult deliveries, are obvious. Yet many doctors do not fully appreciate these risks. In the delivery room, repositioning the mother often addresses SD issues. But many doctors rely on dangerous or unproven birth interventions, like forceps deliveries or episiotomies.

Emotional issues come into play as well. Many families understandably don’t want to be separated from their babies. So, instead of doing what the patient needs, the doctor does what the patient wants. No level of at-home care, even if the family hires a full-time nurse, could possibly compare with the level of treatment a NICU offers.

Finally, many doctors fear the dreaded “medically unnecessary” designation from an insurance company. If an adjuster second-guesses the doctor and decides the NICU admission was an overreaction, the insurance company could refuse to pay for the stay. That could mean the hospital must eat the bill.

Like most other people, doctors are in business to make money. The prospect of losing money is more than some of them can bear. So, they err on the side of caution, at least from a financial perspective, and send patients home who should not be at home.

Evidence in NICU Injury Claims

Treatment records and the standard of care usually form the foundation of the evidence in a NICU legal claim.

Mother and baby medical records, beginning with the first interaction during prenatal visits, often speak for themselves. Usually, in addition to basic diagnostic and cost information, these records include treatment notes. These notes indicate things like the mother’s or baby’s pain level.

If the records indicate that a NICU referral was the right call, failure to refer is usually negligence. An independent expert usually testifies about the standard of care in a designated area.

Connect with an Experienced Hennepin County Lawyer

Injury victims are usually entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced NICU lawyer in Minneapolis, contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman LLC by going online or calling 410-567-0800. We handle birth injury matters on a nationwide basis.

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