Red blood cells carry out the critical function of transporting oxygen to the body’s tissues and organs. Babies are sometimes born without enough of these red blood cells, causing them to suffer from anemia. Without treatment, infant anemia can lead to serious health consequences. Though financial compensation cannot undo the harm to your child, it could help with future medical costs and help you hold negligent medical practitioners accountable.
If you believe your baby suffered because doctors failed to identify and treat their anemia, you could be able to file a birth injury claim with the help of a skilled attorney. An experienced New Haven infant anemia misdiagnosis lawyer can gather the evidence needed to demonstrate a provider’s negligence and pursue the compensation your family needs and deserves.
Because of increased tissue oxygenation, many infants have physiologic anemia, a lower blood cell concentration immediately after birth. This type of anemia does not generally cause any symptoms and often resolves quickly. Pathologic anemia is when a baby has a lower level of hemoglobin and is more severe. Pathologic anemia can occur due to hereditary or genetic conditions, nutritional problems, or bone marrow disorders.
Infant pathologic anemia can also occur from a birth injury or medical mistakes. For example, a medical team may fail to recognize Rh incompatibility or properly treat an infection. A significant amount of blood loss during a traumatic birth, such as due to a placental abruption or placenta previa, may also cause pathologic anemia. Because babies have much less blood in their system, they can even become anemic from having their blood drawn for laboratory tests. When a New Haven family believes their infant suffers because of a medical practitioner’s negligence, they should contact an anemia misdiagnosis attorney as soon as possible to explore their legal options.
Because many infants are anemic after birth, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who work with newborns receive training on identifying anemia. Often, they look for signs or tell the baby’s parents to watch for the following:
Most babies can successfully recover from pathologic anemia if their doctors recognize it and treat them promptly with fluids, iron supplements, blood transfusions, or exchange transfusions. However, if doctors fail to identify or misdiagnose the condition, affected infants may develop complications leading to organ and brain damage. A dedicated New Haven attorney can investigate the actions taken by a medical team to build a case demonstrating how an anemia misdiagnosis resulted in harm to an infant.
Newborns are especially vulnerable to the effects of blood loss. As such, infant anemia is a common condition that medical professionals are trained to spot and treat. Unfortunately, when doctors fail to recognize symptoms or act to resolve the problem, anemic infants may suffer severe consequences.
If your newborn developed a serious health complication because of untreated anemia, you might be able to bring a legal claim against the medical practitioner who failed to protect your child. A New Haven infant anemia misdiagnosis lawyer can provide your family with legal support during this challenging time. Call the seasoned team at Berkowitz Hanna today to discuss how we can help.
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