A hospital lost my stillborn baby

What is the name of your state? Virginai

Here is the dilemma: A hospital lost your stillborn baby and admits the mistake. They want to settle the case and compensate the family the lost of the baby and any mental distress caused by the situation. The family feels that there is no amount of money that could bring back their baby or justify the mental anguish they have been through. But, they want to settle and avoid a costly litigation. What is fair in terms of financial compensation? Is there any precedence case?

Please help,

California.
You really should retain an attorney to negotiate this for you. If you ask for the moon they will balk and if you settle for too little you will never forgive yourself. As in a divorce, an equitable or fair settlement means no one is happy. On the other hand, it is an amount both sides can live with.
You are not going to receive a great deal of money in this instance. I know it sounds cold, but the fetus was stillborn and not worth a great deal. Therefore, the loss will not be greatly compensated.

Alamagan said:

What is the name of your state? Virginai

Here is the dilemma: A hospital lost your stillborn baby and admits the mistake. They want to settle the case and compensate the family the lost of the baby and any mental distress caused by the situation. The family feels that there is no amount of money that could bring back their baby or justify the mental anguish they have been through. But, they want to settle and avoid a costly litigation. What is fair in terms of financial compensation? Is there any precedence case?

Please help,

Click to expand...

I don't mean to belittle, but what exactly happened? The path dept. lost the remains? Or are you trying to say the hospital caused the death of the baby?

The hospital lost the remains of the baby.

Ok. I'm sorry to hear that. But it makes a world of difference to the potential damages. Psychological damages are probably the most difficult to prove and hence, not worth very much. It may be worth more in terms of preventing bad PR however, so keep that in mind.

As to an actual figure, you had best speak with a local attorney familiar with handling emotional distress cases. But it's not going to be a terribly huge amount.

This is horrible. I couldn't even imagine. I am not a proponent of suing medical providers when things go wrong, because sometimes it just happens. But this is gross negligence. You stated you weren't in it for the money, but you must have suffered some financial loss (out of work, final expense, etc.) Ask for a good amount to get your family counseling and other services so you can have closure. Ask for enough to make it painful. I have another suggestion to. Maybe you should ask some of the money set aside for the hospital to run a grief program for parents you have lost their children, and maybe they would name it after your child.

Best of luck--you have my thoughts and prayers.

The point is that "asking" is one thing, but "getting" is another planet.