Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Families are conditioned to believe that their medical doctors and other professionals will maintain a high level of care. Birth injuries can be catastrophic for families if they're not treated appropriately.

If you suspect that your child was born with a preventable injury as a result of medical malpractice, contact a birth injury lawyer for help. Reputable attorneys will evaluate your case and not charge any upfront costs. A successful claim is based on the evidence of the four elements of your case.

Duty of Care

The birth of a child is one of the most exciting and special events in the lives of any person. However, this event could be difficult for parents if medical errors result in serious injuries to their infant during labor and birth. These errors could be irreparable, creating many challenges for a family.

Doctors and other medical professionals are required by law to treat patients with the care and competence that is expected of health care providers in their respective fields in similar situations. This is referred to as the duty of care. In order to win a case against a healthcare provider at fault, you must prove that the medical professional violated this duty. This usually means proving that the medical professional's actions, or the failure to act was different from what a reasonably educated and competent medical professional would have done under the same circumstances.

The third element of a negligence claim is causation. You must show, via medical records and expert testimony, that the healthcare provider at fault's breach of duty caused your child's injury. For instance, a physician may not have observed your child's vital indicators during labor and birth. This could have resulted in prolonged oxygen deprivation, which could have caused brain damage.

Damages are the most important part of the case of a successful negligence claim. You have to prove that you and/or your child suffered real and quantifiable loss as a result of the healthcare provider's lapse when it came to their duty of care. This includes future and past medical costs such as lost wages, as well as non-economic damages like pain and discomfort.

Causation

Medical professionals have a duty to their patients to provide care that is in accordance with standards of their area of expertise. A nurse or doctor who fails to adhere to the standards of care could cause injuries to patients, and result in an action for damages. In order to win a birth injury case the attorney must show that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This must be proved using evidence like medical records and expert testimony.

It is also important to prove that your child would not have suffered a traumatic injury in the event that a medical professional performed the care expected. Medical experts are asked to review the case to determine if the physician or hospital behaved in a manner not in accordance with the accepted medical standards.

Birth injuries can have life-altering consequences that require a lifetime of medical treatments and other expenses. It is crucial to hold at-fault doctors and hospitals accountable for their negligence, and to seek compensation to ensure your child's future requirements.

A lawyer who has handled medical malpractice cases can manage the entire legal process, including responding to insurance inquiries and filing a suit against the responsible parties. They can also create an evidence-based case and secure expert testimony, obtain medical records as well as other documents and then fight for an equitable settlement to cover your family's losses as well as lifetime care costs.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who look over medical records, witness statements from you and your family as well as other evidence. They will help you establish that the doctor or hospital involved in your case violated their duty of care and caused injuries to your child. They will then calculate the amount of damage you've suffered due to these injuries. These include the current and future medical expenses as well as loss of wages, loss of quality of life, emotional distress and other losses.

It can be a devastating experience for your family when doctors, nurses and other medical staff make errors that could have been avoided prior to or even after the birth of your child. It isn't always easy to bring legal action against doctors and hospitals who have acted negligently or with a lack of care. They usually have their own teams of lawyers working full-time to protect clients and deny claims, or reduce settlement amounts.

If you hire a New York birth injury lawyer, you can hold medical professionals who are at fault accountable. The lawyer will handle all communications with insurance companies and then submit your claim to court, and develop a strong evidence-based case to prove liability. They will also fight to get you an equitable settlement or jury verdict for your losses and lifetime expenses for medical care. They may also bring a lawsuit within the timeframe for any applicable statute of limitation in the event that the clock begins to tick from the time the malpractice or medical error occurred.

Statute of Limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury case requires four components. Your lawyer can explain each of them and build a strong legal argument to support your claim.

Medical negligence claims require you to establish that the defendant owed an obligation of care for your child, and that he violated that duty and that this breach led to the injuries to your child. It is crucial to prove causation in order to prevail in a claim. This means that the defendant's actions or omission to act would not have caused the injuries to your child.

Defendants can challenge each of these elements. They can argue that you don't have a doctor-patient relationship or that the standards of care are different than what you assert it to be. Additionally, they may challenge your evidence or expert witnesses' opinions.

You'll need to provide medical records, as well as other evidence in addition to an account of what happened during the birth of your child. You'll also have to submit a demand package with an inventory of all the parties you consider to be defendants. A skilled lawyer can help to identify the proper defendants and ensure you have adequate insurance coverage. A lawyer can help advance costs associated with litigation, like the costs of highly skilled medical experts. This can help reduce some of the financial stress that comes with pursuing a claim for birth injury.