By Timothy Fisher, Partner at Brockstedt Mandalas Federico
When a baby is born with a brain injury, or when a child is later diagnosed with cerebral palsy or a condition linked to oxygen deprivation at birth, families are often left with more questions than answers. One of the most challenging aspects for families can be trying to figure out what went wrong.
The answer, in nearly every case, starts with the medical records.
Medical Records Are the Evidence
In birth injury litigation, medical records aren’t just supporting documents; they are the evidence. They capture what happened in the delivery room in real time, from fetal heart rate tracings, the timing of interventions, medications administered, and notes made by nurses, physicians, and anesthesiologists.
When a baby suffers a hypoxic-ischemic injury, those records often tell the story of whether the medical team responded appropriately or whether critical warning signs were missed or ignored.
What We Look for in the Record
Medical records tell the story of you and your child’s care. As we work to reconstruct what happened, we will review the full scope of your records, from your prenatal care to the entries made into your medical records to the communications between providers about your care decisions. They help build critical timelines and establish causation with injuries.
Not all documentation carries equal weight. In birth injury cases, we pay particular attention to fetal monitoring strips: continuous tracings of the baby’s heart rate during labor that can reveal whether signs of distress were present and whether anyone acted on them. Timing matters enormously. A C-section performed twenty minutes too late can mean the difference between a healthy birth and a lifetime of disability.
We also review nursing notes and physician orders closely. A note documenting that a provider was called but did not respond, or that a recommendation was made and not followed, can be significant evidence of a breakdown in care.
When Records Are Incomplete
Requesting medical records is both natural and necessary after a serious injury, but what patients receive often reflects only part of the picture. In most cases, providers disclose the formal contents of the electronic medical record: only the documentation that was ultimately entered into the chart. That record is essential, but it doesn’t always capture the full universe of information that shaped clinical decision-making.
Two categories are frequently missing:
- First, provider-to-provider communications. Care teams today regularly communicate through secure internal messaging platforms and digital threads embedded in hospital systems. These exchanges can shape decisions in real time, sometimes more directly than the documentation later finalized in the chart.
- Second, clinical decision support data. Modern EMR systems incorporate alert mechanisms designed to flag risks like dangerous drug interactions or deteriorating patient conditions. Whether a provider received and acted on those alerts is often not visible in the standard patient-facing record.
In litigation, we can pursue these materials through formal discovery to help families understand their care decisions.
Why You Should Request Records Early
You are entitled to your records, and obtaining them early preserves your options. You don’t need to know how to interpret them before you call us. That’s our job. If your family is searching for answers after a birth injury or a brain damage diagnosis, reach out and let us help you understand what the record shows and what it means.
Timothy Fisher is a partner at Brockstedt Mandalas Federico, where his practice focuses on complex medical malpractice, birth injury, and catastrophic harm cases.
Timothy D. Fisher es socio de BMF. Su práctica se centra en la representación de personas en casos de negligencia médica, muerte por negligencia, lesiones durante el parto y lesiones personales catastróficas. Cuenta con una amplia experiencia en negligencia médica y derecho sanitario, habiendo gestionado todos los aspectos de los litigios, desde el análisis previo al juicio hasta el juicio y la apelación.
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