Brain Cooling Information
Medical Malpractice Attorney Dr. Bruce Fagel
Over $1 Billion in Settlements and Verdicts
Addressing a medical malpractice claim involving birth injuries and brain cooling can be difficult, but with the right knowledge and resources an attorney can successfully resolve your case. Dr. Bruce Fagel is here to offer you the unparalleled legal representation of an attorney who is also a medical doctor. Dr. Fagel has handled more medical malpractice cases than any other lawyer in the Western United States and is ready to put his experience to work for you. He was the only medical malpractice lawyer selected by The National Law Journal as one of "
The 10 Top Trial Attorneys in the Nation" and has been nominated eight times for the prestigious
Trial Lawyer of the Year award by the Consumer Attorneys Association.
Dr. Fagel practiced emergency medicine for 10 years before he became an attorney. He currently maintains his medical license. His background in medicine and extensive legal experience combine to create a multi-faceted foundation of knowledge that helps him find success in more brain cooling and birth injury claims. He sees opportunity in these highly technical and complex cases where other lawyers may only see failure. His goal is always the highest recovery, award or settlement for his clients.
Dr. Bruce Fagel and his team have handled more than 700 malpractice cases, including those related to serious brain injuries in infants due to malpractice before, during or after childbirth. He has won
more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements through his years of practice.
If your child suffered a birth injury and brain cooling was improperly conducted or was not presented as an option and should have been, call our offices at (800) 541-9376 for a free consultation. We also work on a contingent fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Brain Cooling Information
During gestation, an unborn child's brain is vulnerable to a wide range of threats, including placental or umbilical problems, severe illness with the mother, or a difficult delivery. When a newborn is asphyxiated before or during birth, the ensuing lack of oxygen to the brain can result in a condition termed hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE.
The HIE condition evolves over several hours. The initial oxygen and/or lack of blood supply to the brain kicks off a series of other events as the body tries to repair itself. This natural approach is effective when HIE is mild. But in moderate or severe cases, the body's desperate attempts could cause more brain damage.
At birth, an HIE event can lead to serious brain damage in two ways. First, decreased oxygen deprives brain cells of the energy necessary to stay alive. Second, decreased oxygen causes the heart's output to slow, thereby increasing the risk for continued brain damage.
When the baby is resuscitated, the sudden increase in blood and oxygen flow can trigger a cascade of deadly chemical events that can lead to added and even more significant brain damage. All too often the result is long-term developmental physical and mental delays. Many infants with HIE will face life-long struggles with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, learning disabilities, and vision or hearing impairments. Up to 60% of all newborns with severe HIE die in the first years of life.
Damage to the brain does not occur immediately. It is the result of a cascade of chemical reactions, and there is a window of several hours before it becomes permanent. Therefore, researchers theorized that maybe it was possible to block the chemical chain reaction and minimize permanent damage. Up until the past couple of decades no intervention seemed to make much difference.
However, now, a new and simple technique is giving brain-damaged babies a chance at a normal, healthy life. Recent research suggests that babies who are starved of oxygen at birth have a much lower risk of brain damage if they are given mild hypothermia-a cooling of the body temperature. This is achieved in one of two ways: through a special water-cooled cap or a fluid-filled blanket. Both methods are designed to reduce brain temperature. It has been found that reducing the temperature by 3-4○C for 72 hours after birth seems to switch off many of the damaging reactions. It is believed that cooling slows down chemical reactions, and gives the repair mechanisms inside cells a chance to work.
Brain hypothermia, induced by cooling a baby to around 33○C for three days after birth, has recently been proven to be the only medical intervention that reduces brain damage and improves an infant's chance of normal survival after birth asphyxia. Brain cooling has become widely used in neonatal units throughout the United States.
Timing is critical. Brain cooling must be initiated within six hours of delivery. After the baby is born, doctors make some quick decisions to determine if he or she is a candidate for brain cooling. The newborn must have sustained moderate brain damage, be full-term or late pre-term (beyond 36 weeks), and be younger than six hours old.
Within those first six hours of life, a baby is placed on the cooling blanket. Cold water runs through it to lower the body temperature to 91○F. That slows a baby's metabolic rate, protecting the brain and stopping a second wave of damage, which is often more harmful than the first. It cools the brain as a result of cold blood circulating around the brain. After 72 hours, babies are slowly re-warmed for the next six hours. The warming continues until normal temperature is achieved. International studies report about a 27% decline in deaths and disabilities with this technique. The international tests of the water-cooled cap have produced equally promising results. In fact, cerebral palsy rates were cut by half.
Importance of Hiring an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer
In cases involving birth injuries to your child, it is easy to allow yourself to become overwhelmed by the situation. After all, you are will be dealing with a scenario that has the ability to completely alter your child's future – this is not something that should be taken lightly or, worse, ignored entirely. At our firm, we recognize how daunting it can be to deal with the legalities of a situation when you are much more concerned about the health and well-being of a child and we are here to help.
We urge you to contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney from our firm as soon as possible. Led by Dr. Bruce Fagel, we are able to offer our clients a unique blend of both medical and legal knowledge. Should you choose to work with us, you will be able to trust that you will not be forced to carry the burden all on your own. Instead, you will have an experienced advocate on your side prepared to go the distance to protect you and your family. Call today to learn more!
For exceptional legal guidance, and aggressive, knowledgeable representation Contact Dr. Bruce G. Fagel & Associates!