Many birth injuries, such as cerebral palsy, cause lifelong disabilities and other health problems. These conditions can also be costly for families to manage.
Medical professionals are expected to provide high-quality care during the childbirth process and prevent injuries. However, even small medical mistakes can lead to severe consequences. Contact a Birth Injury Attorney now!
When doctors and other medical professionals commit mistakes during labor, the results can be devastating. Families may suffer injuries that will last a lifetime or even cut their child’s life short. A birth injury attorney can help parents hold at-fault medical workers accountable and recover compensation for the damages they have suffered.
The first step in filing a claim is gathering all relevant documentation. This can include medical records, witness testimonies, and medial documents. A birth injury lawyer will know where to look for these items and how to secure them as quickly as possible.
In order to file a claim, it is also important to have a timeline of the events leading up to and during the injury. This information can be used to establish negligence, as well as the extent of a patient’s losses and damages.
A medical expert is often needed in a birth injury case to provide an opinion on whether the doctor or other medical professional acted within the standard of care. The expert will review all of the evidence and testimony in the case to determine if the doctor failed to uphold the standard of care and if such actions caused the patient harm.
A financial expert will also be needed to calculate the amount of monetary damages that should be awarded to a patient. This will take into account all past and future expenses associated with the injury. These can include costs for rehabilitation, hospital stays, additional procedures and surgeries, equipment, in-home caregivers, and other related costs. The financial expert will also consider a patient’s loss of enjoyment of life to determine an appropriate award amount. The exact types and amounts of damages will vary from case to case.
Initial Consultation
The birth of a child is supposed to be one of the most joyous events in any parent’s life. Unfortunately, mistakes made by doctors and obstetric nurses can turn the happy moment into a lifetime of suffering for your family. Thankfully, our civil legal system entitles families to financial compensation from medical professionals who fail to meet the standard of care in their specialty.
Finding the right birth injury attorney is essential to winning your case. You can start your search by performing a simple Internet search for “birth injury attorneys near me.” Make sure you look at the firm’s website and pay particular attention to the background of each lawyer and their successes in cases like yours.
Once you have a short list of potential attorneys, schedule an initial consultation. During this meeting, you will likely be asked to provide the facts of your case and identify all parties who may be responsible for the medical malpractice. Your attorney should also be able to give you an idea of how much your case could potentially be worth. Often, damages include a lifetime cost of care as well as non-economic losses, such as emotional distress and pain and suffering.
During the consultation, it’s also important to ask your potential birth injury attorney about their experience handling similar medical malpractice cases. While they may not be able to divulge specifics due to confidentiality provisions, your attorney should be able to tell you how many similar cases they have handled successfully as well as their success rate at obtaining jury verdicts and settlements in these types of cases. It’s also important to know how many cases your prospective lawyer manages at any given time, as you want to be sure that your case is receiving the time and attention it deserves.
Medical Records
Medical records are a critical component of any malpractice case, but they are particularly important in birth injury lawsuits. Typically, these cases involve complex, technical medical information and test results. Many of these records may contain medical terminology and abbreviations that are not familiar to people who have not gone to medical school. It is important to have a lawyer review the medical records as soon as possible so that they can identify potential issues and begin to build the case.
In a medical malpractice case, your lawyer must show that the OB-GYN breached a duty of care to you by failing to act in a reasonable manner under the circumstances. To do this, your attorney will need to present expert testimony that establishes the appropriate standard of care and how your doctor’s conduct deviated from that standard.
Birth injuries can result from negligence during labor and delivery, including a failure to perform a C-section, an incorrect use of forceps or a vacuum extractor, or an improperly administered medication. Your lawyer will also need to present evidence of the harm caused by these errors, which includes the cost of additional medical treatment and other economic and non-economic losses.
Because of the financial impact of a birth injury, it is important to hire an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer who has experience handling these types of claims can help clients negotiate with insurance companies and make sure that any settlement or trial award fairly reflects the full amount of damages suffered. Moreover, hiring an experienced birth injury lawyer can protect against attempts by the insurance company to shift blame or misstate facts to reduce their responsibility.
Expert Witnesses
Although birth injury rates have been decreasing over the last several decades due to advances in medical care for pregnancy and delivery, complications still occur. Some of these problems are unavoidable; however, many others can be the result of medical errors that occur during labor and delivery. A successful lawsuit can help a family recover damages for the financial costs of medical treatment as well as the intangible losses, such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
In a birth injury case, an attorney will need expert witnesses to review the medical evidence and provide an opinion on whether or not the defendant medical professionals violated the standard of care. This is vital to successfully proving malpractice and recovering damages. Typically, these experts are physicians who specialize in areas related to the birth injury. They will review the medical records, witness testimony, and other important details of the case to determine if the doctor or nurse deviated from the standard of care.
Depending on the complexity of your claim, your attorney may also need to consult with other types of expert witnesses, such as financial experts who can calculate the value of future damages. A knowledgeable lawyer will be able to select the most qualified experts for your specific case.
Your attorney will also be responsible for determining which doctors, nurses, midwives, and other health care providers should be named as defendants in your lawsuit. In addition to these parties, you may need to include other individuals, such as a hospital or facility where the injury occurred.
Filing a Lawsuit
During the lawsuit filing process, your lawyer will investigate and collect evidence to establish negligence and build a case for compensation. They will consult with medical experts and work with financial professionals to determine an appropriate amount of damages to pursue based on your child’s needs. This includes lifetime costs of care, as well as noneconomic losses like pain and suffering.
When seeking a birth injury attorney, you need to choose someone with experience and a proven track record. They should have a history of recovering substantial sums for their clients. You also want to make sure that they are familiar with the medical professionals and hospitals involved in your case so that they can identify all potentially liable parties.
Once the facts of your claim are established, your lawyer will file a lawsuit against all parties that may be responsible for your child’s birth injury. They will negotiate with the defendants’ legal representatives to obtain financial compensation for your child’s past and future needs.
In most cases, a settlement will be reached to avoid a trial. If not, your lawyer will prepare for a trial by gathering and reviewing additional evidence to present to the judge or jury.
To win your case, you must prove all four parts of your legal claim. The first part is that the defendant owed a duty of care to you and your child. The second part is that the defendant breached this duty by failing to adhere to the standard of care set forth by their profession’s standards and customary practices in similar circumstances. The final part is that the defendant’s breach caused your child’s injuries and related damage.