Visitor Question

My Baby Died from Nurse Malpractice in the Neonatal Unit…

Submitted By: Anonymous

My baby was admitted at the medical clinic. She was born prematurely with a low birth weight and kept on incubators and in the neonatal intensive care unit. While at the hospital the nurses made a mistake by putting PreNan formula milk in my baby’s veins instead of administering Total Parental Nutrition.

She later died and the postmortem report proved that she had a foreign substance in her brains and kidneys. Now the lawyers at the hospital are offering me $50,000.00 and they are saying my baby would have died anyway even if they had not administered milk in her veins. What should I do?

Disclaimer: Our response is not formal legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is generic legal information based on the very limited information provided. Do not rely upon the information in our response, or anywhere else on this site, when deciding the proper course of a legal matter. Always get a personalized case review from a local attorney.

Answer

Dear Anonymous,

First and foremost, we at this website are sorry for your loss. This is a very difficult case and the fact that lawyers from the hospital have already called with an offer and an “explanation” is a sign that they know they are at fault.

Therefore, the only real issue is one of damages (i.e. what a claim such as this is worth). To this I respond that you cannot put a dollar figure on the value of your child’s life. Period. In a wrongful death case, however you must base a settlement on something. Whether your child would have died regardless of the negligence is a medical determination. Force them to prove beyond a MEDICAL doubt that this is, indeed the case.

If you have the resources and you doubt their findings, bring in your own specialist to make this call.

If it is a case of pure negligence and your child would have survived despite her fragile condition, the value of her life and the loss of the relationship with your child is worth much more than they are offering.

In many jurisdictions, there is a theory called “Egg Shell Thin Skull” which means that you take a plaintiff as they are, fragile or not, and liability is not minimized simply because the person was already in a compromised state.

Also, and unfortunately, because these lawyers know that you are in an emotional state, they may wish to expedite settlement.

The only advice I can give you is not to make any decisions without wise counsel and during a time of grief. You have plenty of time to decide what to do.

Learn more here: Hospital Wrongful Death Lawsuits

The above is general information. Laws change frequently, and across jurisdictions. You should get a personalized case evaluation from a licensed attorney.

Find a local attorney to give you a free case review here, or call 888-972-0892.

We wish you the best with your claim,

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