NYC to Pay Medical Bills for Brain Damage Caused by Birth Injuries

The state of New York, and not hospitals, will pay the medical bills of newborns who suffer brain damage during birth, according to a new bill. What this bill does is set up a state neurological fund, which will cover children who suffer brain or spinal cord injuries during birth. Such injuries are often caused by oxygen deprivation or mechanical injury during labor or delivery. They also result from a failure on the part of the doctor or hospital to provide medical services during delivery admission.
Under this new bill, families whose children suffer these terrible birth injuries must still jump through the legal hoops to get this compensation. They must file lawsuits and prove medical negligence in court. Those families that win or settle the lawsuit would then be enrolled to the state fund, which will pay for the child’s lifetime medical costs. Defendants will still be responsible to pay the plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees and any punitive damages that are awarded by a jury.
Hospital leaders say this new bill will help reduce medical malpractice premiums in the state. But patient advocates believe that this will make an already difficult process even more of a bureaucratic nightmare for plaintiffs. Most importantly, they believe that it lets hospitals walk away from medical errors caused by their own doctors and personnel. Thankfully, a $250,000 medical malpractice cap sought by hospital lobbyists did not get legislative approval as part of this bill.
Birth injury related lawsuits account for nearly 50 percent of all medical malpractice lawsuits in New York. A recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology shows that hospitals can significantly minimize birth injuries and malpractice payments by providing better care to patients, something they are supposed to do in the first place. Some of the suggested methods to improve care include better training, improved communication, adopting proper guidelines for C-sections and mandating national certification for interpreting electronic fetal monitoring systems. Failure in these areas is obviously the reason many tragic birth injuries occur.
If your child has suffered catastrophic birth injuries due to medical negligence, the New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help. We will thoroughly and independently investigate your case, gather the necessary medical evidence and make sure that the negligent parties are held liable. You don’t pay a dime until we recover the compensation you rightfully deserve. Call us at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496) to schedule your no-cost consultation.
1-800-RADIO-LAW 1-888-WYPADEK 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit our website: www.work4youlaw.com
Source: The Albany Times-Union