When your newborn requires hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the experience can be overwhelming. HBOT involves placing your baby in a pressurized chamber to breathe pure oxygen, a treatment reserved for serious medical conditions. For many Florida families, learning their infant needs this intensive therapy raises difficult questions about what went wrong and whether someone is responsible.
The answer depends on why your baby needs HBOT. If oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery caused brain damage that now requires hyperbaric treatment, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim. Florida law allows families to pursue compensation when healthcare providers fail to meet the standard of care and that failure injures a child.
Why Would a Baby Need Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Medical Conditions Treated with HBOT in Newborns
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases oxygen levels in the blood plasma to promote healing in oxygen-deprived tissues. The treatment reduces swelling, fights certain infections, and supports new blood vessel growth. For infants, HBOT addresses several serious conditions.
The FDA has cleared HBOT for treating these conditions in pediatric patients:
- Acute carbon monoxide poisoning, which resolves symptoms in most cases without complications
- Non-healing wounds from surgery, catheters, or other medical interventions
- Peripheral ischemia affecting blood flow to the extremities
- Thrombosis-related compartment syndrome
- Air or gas embolism and decompression injuries
- Compromised skin grafts requiring enhanced tissue oxygenation
Beyond these approved uses, researchers are investigating HBOT as an experimental treatment for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a form of brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation during birth.
How HBOT Works for Infants
During treatment, your baby enters a specialized chamber where atmospheric pressure increases to two or three times normal levels. This pressure allows the lungs to absorb significantly more oxygen than possible under normal conditions. The oxygen dissolves directly into blood plasma, delivering it to areas where normal circulation cannot reach.
Sessions typically last 60 to 120 minutes. The hyperoxia—elevated oxygen levels—helps shrink gas bubbles in the blood, reduces inflammation, and promotes healing in damaged tissues. For babies with brain injuries from oxygen deprivation, the theory is that enhanced oxygen delivery may help preserve or restore neurological function.
Connection Between Birth Complications and HBOT
The most significant connection between HBOT and birth injury litigation involves hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. HIE occurs when a baby’s brain is deprived of adequate oxygen during labor and delivery. According to Medscape’s clinical overview (2024), HIE affects approximately 1 to 3 per 1,000 live births in developed countries, with the United States experiencing roughly 2.4 cases per 1,000 births.
The consequences of untreated HIE are devastating. According to research published in PMC/NIH (2011), 40 to 60 percent of infants with HIE die by age two or develop severe disabilities including intellectual disability, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy.
When HBOT is recommended for your newborn following a difficult delivery, it often signals that healthcare providers are addressing damage from oxygen deprivation. This raises the question of whether that oxygen deprivation was preventable.
When Does HBOT Treatment Indicate Possible Medical Malpractice?
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Preventable Oxygen Deprivation During Labor and Delivery
Not every baby who needs HBOT has a viable malpractice claim. Some oxygen deprivation events occur despite appropriate medical care. However, many cases involve preventable failures by healthcare providers to recognize and respond to fetal distress.
The standard treatment for HIE is therapeutic hypothermia, or cooling therapy, which must begin within six hours of birth. According to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2013), therapeutic hypothermia reduces the combined risk of mortality or major neurodevelopmental disability by 25 percent. In treated infants, 46 percent experience mortality or disability compared to 61 percent in untreated controls.
When providers fail to recognize HIE or delay cooling therapy, they may compound the initial injury. HBOT may then become necessary to address damage that proper intervention could have prevented or minimized.
Delayed Response to Fetal Distress
Fetal monitoring exists to detect signs of oxygen deprivation before permanent damage occurs. Healthcare providers are trained to recognize warning signs that require immediate intervention.
Warning signs that should prompt urgent medical response include:
- Abnormal fetal heart rate patterns showing bradycardia or tachycardia
- Late decelerations in heart rate following contractions
- Reduced fetal movement or activity
- Meconium-stained amniotic fluid
- Umbilical cord prolapse or compression
- Placental abruption with sudden bleeding
When nurses, midwives, or obstetricians fail to recognize these warning signs or delay their response, the baby may suffer prolonged oxygen deprivation. The resulting brain damage often requires aggressive treatment including HBOT.
Failure to Perform Timely Cesarean Section
Florida has one of the highest cesarean section rates in the country. According to Florida Department of Health data (2023), 36.2 percent of all live births in Florida were cesarean deliveries. While high C-section rates raise their own concerns, the more pressing issue in birth injury cases is often the failure to perform a cesarean when one was clearly needed.
When fetal monitoring shows persistent signs of distress, a prompt cesarean section can prevent brain damage by delivering the baby before oxygen deprivation causes permanent harm. Delays in ordering or performing an emergency C-section—whether due to physician unavailability, operating room delays, or failure to recognize urgency—can result in catastrophic injury.
HBOT as Evidence of Injury Severity
From a legal perspective, your baby’s need for hyperbaric oxygen therapy serves as evidence of injury severity. HBOT is not a routine treatment. Hospitals do not recommend pressurized oxygen chambers for minor concerns. The prescription of HBOT indicates that your child suffered significant oxygen-related damage requiring aggressive intervention.
This evidence becomes relevant when calculating damages and demonstrating the consequences of medical negligence. The ongoing need for specialized treatment like HBOT supports claims for future medical expenses and illustrates the lasting impact of birth injuries.
What Must Be Proven in a Florida Birth Injury Lawsuit?
Establishing the Standard of Care
Florida law defines the standard of care as “that level of care, skill, and treatment which, in light of all relevant surrounding circumstances, is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar health care providers.” Fla. Stat. § 766.102(1). For birth injury cases, this means demonstrating what a competent obstetrician, nurse, or hospital would have done under similar circumstances.
Florida holds specialists to a specialist standard. An obstetrician is judged against what other obstetricians would do, not general practitioners. Expert testimony is required to establish this standard in virtually all birth injury cases.
Proving the Healthcare Provider Breached That Standard
Breach occurs when the provider’s conduct falls below the prevailing professional standard. Under Fla. Stat. § 766.102(1), the family must prove by the greater weight of evidence that the provider’s actions or omissions deviated from what reasonably prudent similar providers would recognize as acceptable.
Common breaches in HIE cases include failing to properly interpret fetal heart rate tracings, delaying intervention when distress was apparent, improper use of labor-inducing medications, and failure to order timely cesarean delivery.
Demonstrating Causation Under Florida Law
Causation presents the most challenging element in many birth injury cases. Under Gooding v. University Hospital Building, Inc., 445 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 1984), Florida requires plaintiffs to prove causation under a “more likely than not” standard—greater than 50 percent probability.
This matters because not all brain injuries result from delivery complications. According to a systematic review published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2008), only 14.5 percent of cerebral palsy cases are associated with intrapartum asphyxia. The CDC (2025) confirms that 85 to 90 percent of CP is congenital, meaning it was present at birth but not necessarily caused by delivery events.
Your expert witnesses must establish that the healthcare provider’s negligence—not a preexisting condition or unavoidable complication—more likely than not caused your child’s injury requiring HBOT.
Documenting Your Child’s Damages
Damages in birth injury cases encompass both economic and non-economic losses. Following North Broward Hospital District v. Kalitan, 219 So. 3d 49 (Fla. 2017), Florida has no enforceable caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. The Florida Supreme Court held that statutory caps violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution.
What Damages Can Florida Families Recover?
Medical Expenses Including HBOT Costs
Economic damages include all past and future medical expenses related to your child’s injury. HBOT treatment costs vary but typically run several hundred dollars per session, with many patients requiring dozens of sessions. These costs, combined with hospitalization, specialist consultations, medications, and diagnostic testing, form a substantial portion of economic damages.
Recoverable economic damages in birth injury cases include:
- Past and future medical expenses for all necessary treatment
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions and related monitoring
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
- Specialized equipment and mobility devices
- Home modifications for accessibility
- Lost earning capacity if the injury affects your child’s future ability to work
- Cost of future caregiving and support services
Future Care and Therapy Needs
Children with HIE-related brain injuries often require lifelong care. According to CDC data (2022), approximately 1 in 345 children in the United States have been identified with cerebral palsy. Many of these children need ongoing physical therapy, special education services, and assisted living arrangements as adults.
Life care planners can calculate the present value of future medical needs, which often reaches millions of dollars for children with severe brain injuries. Florida law requires that future damages be reduced to present value under Fla. Stat. § 768.21.
Non-Economic Damages for Your Child and Family
Non-economic damages compensate for losses that lack precise dollar values. These include your child’s physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. Parents may recover for their own mental anguish and loss of their child’s companionship.
Florida courts permit per diem arguments, allowing attorneys to suggest a daily rate for pain and suffering multiplied by the expected duration of suffering. For a child with permanent brain injury, these calculations can yield substantial figures.
What Are the Deadlines for Filing a Birth Injury Claim in Florida?
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The Two-Year Statute of Limitations
Under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(c), medical malpractice actions must be commenced within two years from the time the incident occurred or within two years from when the incident is discovered or should have been discovered with due diligence.
The Florida Supreme Court clarified in Tanner v. Hartog, 618 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 1993), that the statute of limitations begins when the plaintiff has knowledge of the injury and a reasonable possibility that the injury was caused by medical malpractice. Simply knowing your child was injured is not enough—you must also have reason to suspect malpractice.
Special Protections for Minor Children
Florida provides important protections for children injured at birth. The four-year statute of repose—which normally serves as an absolute deadline—does not bar claims filed on behalf of a minor before the child’s eighth birthday. Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(c).
This means families have until their child turns eight to file suit, regardless of when the injury occurred. However, waiting creates risks. Evidence may be lost, witnesses’ memories fade, and medical records may become harder to obtain. Early investigation protects your child’s legal rights.
Pre-Suit Investigation Requirements
Florida mandates a pre-suit investigation before filing any medical malpractice lawsuit. Under Fla. Stat. § 766.106 and § 766.203, you must complete an investigation to determine reasonable grounds for believing the healthcare provider was negligent. You must also obtain a verified written expert opinion corroborating your claim.
Before filing suit, you must serve written notice of intent upon each prospective defendant at least 90 days in advance. This notice triggers a mandatory pre-suit investigation period during which the statute of limitations is tolled.
FAQ: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Birth Injury Lawsuits
How do I know if my baby’s condition was caused by medical negligence?
Determining whether medical negligence caused your baby’s condition requires expert medical review. An obstetrician or maternal-fetal medicine specialist must examine the medical records, including fetal monitoring strips, delivery notes, and neonatal treatment records. They can identify whether providers met the standard of care and whether any deviations likely caused your child’s injury.
Can I file a lawsuit if my baby is still receiving HBOT treatment?
Yes. You do not need to wait for treatment to conclude before pursuing a claim. In fact, Florida’s statute of limitations makes timely action important. Ongoing treatment actually helps document the extent of your child’s injuries and the costs associated with their care.
What if the hospital says my baby’s brain injury was unavoidable?
Hospitals and their insurance companies frequently argue that injuries were unavoidable complications rather than the result of negligence. This defense must be evaluated by independent medical experts. Many conditions claimed to be “unavoidable” are actually the result of delayed intervention or failure to recognize warning signs.
How long does a Florida birth injury lawsuit take?
Birth injury cases typically take two to four years from filing to resolution. The pre-suit investigation period adds several months before a lawsuit can even be filed. Discovery, expert depositions, and potential trial preparation extend the timeline. Many cases settle before trial, but families should prepare for a process lasting several years.
What if my child’s condition worsens years after birth?
Florida law allows recovery for future damages, including conditions that may worsen over time. Life care planning experts can project future medical needs and costs. However, the statute of limitations runs from when you knew or should have known about the malpractice, not from when conditions worsened. Filing early protects your right to recover for future deterioration.
Taking Action to Protect Your Child’s Rights
When your baby requires hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the treatment itself signals a serious medical situation. If that situation arose from preventable oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery, Florida law provides a path to compensation. The damages available—past and future medical expenses, ongoing care costs, and non-economic losses—can help ensure your child receives the care they need for life.
The legal process requires proving that healthcare providers breached the standard of care and that this breach caused your child’s injury. Expert testimony is essential, and the pre-suit requirements demand careful preparation. Time limitations mean that early investigation protects your options.
If you have questions about whether your child’s need for HBOT may have resulted from medical negligence, contact Prosper Injury Attorneys to discuss your situation.
