Birth Injury Compensation

It could be devastating when your child suffers birth injury due to negligence by a doctor. These injuries may require lifetime treatment and care. You'll be faced with a huge financial burden.

Many birth injuries cases involve a complex debate over medical errors versus malpractice. Our lawyers can help you to understand the distinctions.

Costs of Treatment

When determining how much to give for a birth injury lawyers from insurance companies and judges consider the extent of the injury and the impact it has on the child's quality of life. For instance when a child needs constant medical attention, this will increase the value of a claim.

Medical treatment for birth injuries can be expensive. The compensation awarded for a birth injury can help families pay for the costs. Lawyers often collaborate with experts in putting together a "Life Care Plan," which calculates the lifetime costs incurred by a child's injury. These expenses include hospitalization, surgery, specialized medical treatments, prescriptions, home improvements and equipment, etc.

Your legal team will collect medical documents from the pregnancy and birth of your child, as well firsthand reports from relatives. These documents will be used to prove that your child was injured due to medical malpractice, and also to prove the extent to which the injury occurred.

Many states have medical indemnity funds which provide financial assistance to families with children who have suffered birth injuries. These funds pay a portion of malpractice insurance premiums. They also require hospitals and doctors to contribute to an investment fund. In addition to providing financial aid, these programs can reduce the requirement for families to pursue a lawsuit. However, JLARC staff found that these programs do not always meet their goals and should be improved.

Life Care Planning

Children with conditions like cerebral palsy and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy are likely to have permanent medical requirements. These include physical therapies as well as specialized equipment and home health treatment. The majority of the time, these costs can be quite substantial.

A life-care plan document is a document which outlines the future medical, education home, and other expenses that a child with disabilities is likely to incur throughout his or her lifetime. These plans are often used to determine the amount of damages awarded in a birth injury case. These plans must be comprehensive and carefully written in order to meet the strict requirements of admissibility.

Experts in planning for life can assist in the preparation of these documents using input and the formal opinions of disabled children's doctors or therapists as well as caregivers. The plans provide a detailed description of the initial injury and its diagnosis. They explain the underlying causes of the disability as well as its long-term consequences.

A medical malpractice attorney should work with a life care planner to develop the most effective plan for their client's situation. The aim of the plan is to ensure that your child receives the proper compensation to cover the cost of all of his or her future expenses and medical care. The money is usually placed into a special needs trust, which is overseen by a licensed administrator. Typically the amount awarded will be adjusted periodically to meet changes in your child's future needs.

Pain and Suffering

In a case involving a birth injury damages are awarded to cover the plaintiff's past and future suffering and pain. This includes physical and mental suffering from the injury as well as an inability to participate in activities that are enjoyed by others.

It is also possible to recover for the loss of income when the victim's condition limits their career options or prohibits them from working at all. Families can also be compensated for the care and treatment of an injured child.

The verdicts for medical malpractice cases are often extremely high, since juries are often sympathetic to patients and hold doctors accountable for their errors. Many hospitals and doctors choose to settle instead of risking an expensive trial and stressful for everyone involved.

During the litigation, lawyers for both sides will collect evidence to justify their arguments. They will exchange documents in the process of discovery, which involves deposing a witness to get statements under an oath. In many states, defendants are able to request to view the plaintiff's records.

A successful birth injury lawsuit requires a lawyer who has experience in these types of cases. A seasoned attorney will analyze your case to determine whether you are entitled to a lawsuit and will work to find the most effective settlement.

Punitive Damages

Some medical malpractice lawsuits also include punitive damages. These are meant to communicate a message to prevent future negligence. The damages can be awarded when there is a significant amount of malice or negligence on the part of the doctor. However, they are extremely rare in cases of birth injury lawyer injuries.

After identifying the defendants the attorney must gather and examine the evidence to back the claim. They must show that the injuries caused by medical professionals were not up to standards of care. The legal team must show evidence of the losses that are associated with the injuries, referred to as "damages." These damages can be either economic or non-economic.

Economic losses are usually calculated by estimation of the cost of a child's ongoing medical treatment, which includes long-term care facilities and other services. It is also possible to include the loss of earnings if the accident caused one or both parents to leave their jobs.

The legal team will then create a demand document that they can present to the malpractice lawyers. This document will describe the birth injury, its effects on the child's family and as well as request compensation to pay the expenses of these loss. The lawyers will negotiate with the medical providers until they reach a settlement. During this process, lawyers will share information about their cases with the other side through discovery, which entails depositions of witnesses who testify under oath.