Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Birth is a stressful and stressful experience, however families expect their medical professionals and doctors to adhere to a high standard of care. If they fail to do so, birth injuries can be catastrophic to families.

Contact a birth injury lawyer for help should you suspect that your child has suffered an injury that could have been prevented during birth due medical malpractice. Reputable lawyers will evaluate your case for free and will not charge upfront fees. A successful claim will require proving the four elements of your case.

Duty of Care

Few events in life are more joyous and special than the birth of a baby. However, the birth procedure can be very stressful for parents when medical mistakes cause serious injuries to the baby during labor and birth. These errors can be irreparable and make a family be faced with a series of challenges for the rest of their lives.

Medical professionals and doctors are legally bound to treat patients with the respect and skill ordinarily expected of health professionals in their respective fields under similar circumstances. This is known as the duty of care. If you want to prevail against a healthcare provider at fault, you must prove that the medical professional breached this obligation. This usually means proving that the medical professional's actions, or the lack of them, differed from what a competent and properly trained medical professional would have done in similar circumstances.

The second aspect in a negligence case is causation. You must prove via medical records and evidence from an expert that the healthcare professional at fault's breach of duty led to your child's injuries. For example, a doctor may not have observed your child's vital indicators during labor and birth. This could have caused brain damage from prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Damages are the final component in the case of a successful negligence claim. You must demonstrate that you and your child suffered, quantifiable financial losses resulting from the healthcare professional at fault's inability to meet their obligation of care. This includes past and future medical costs in addition to lost wages, as well as non-economic damages such as discomfort and pain.

Causation

Medical professionals are obligated to patients to provide treatment that is in line with the standards of medical care in their field. A doctor or nurse who fails to adhere to the standard of care may cause injury to a patient, and could result in an action for damages. To prevail in a case of birth injury, an attorney must prove that the breach of duty directly led to your child's injuries. This can be proved with evidence such as medical documents and expert testimony.

It is also crucial to prove that your child would not be injured in the event that a medical professional been able to provide the level of care that is expected. Medical experts are asked to review the case to determine if the physician or hospital acted in a manner that was not in accordance with accepted medical practices.

Birth injuries can cause life-altering impacts that require the need for a lifetime of medical care and other expenses. It is essential to hold doctors and hospitals accountable for their negligence and seek compensation to help pay for the future requirements of your child.

A lawyer with experience in handling medical malpractice cases can oversee the entire legal process for you, which includes responding to insurer requests and bringing lawsuits against the responsible parties. They can also build an argument based on evidence, secure expert testimony, access documents and medical records and negotiate fair settlements to cover the family's lifetime care costs and losses.

Damages

Medical experts are needed to look over medical records, the testimony of you and your family members and other evidence in the birth injury lawsuit. They will determine if the doctor in your case violated their duty to care for your child and causing injuries to your child. They will then estimate the damage you have suffered as a result of those injuries. This includes your current and future medical expenses and lost wages, loss of quality of life, emotional distress and many other losses.

It can be devastating for your family members when nurses, doctors and other medical staff make unavoidable errors prior to or even after the birth of your child. It can also be difficult to bring legal action against the hospital and doctors who might have acted negligently or erroneously. They have lawyers on staff who are full-time employees to protect their clients, reject claims or decrease settlements.

If you hire an New York birth injury lawyer to represent you, you can hold at-fault medical professionals accountable. Your lawyer will be in contact with the insurers, file a claim in court and construct a solid evidence-based case to establish liability. They will also advocate for you to get an appropriate jury verdict or settlement for your damages and expenses over your lifetime. They may also make a claim in time for any applicable statute of limitations in the event that the clock begins to tick from the time the medical malpractice or negligence occurred.

Statute of Limitations

Four factors are essential to be successful in claiming for compensation when birth injuries occur. Your attorney can explain each of them and develop a solid legal argument in support of your claim.

Medical negligence claims require that you prove that the defendant had an obligation of care for your child, that they breached this duty, and that the breach caused the injuries to your child. It is crucial to prove causation to win a claim. This means that the defendant's actions, or inability to act would not have resulted in the injury of your child.

The defendants have the option of challenging any of these elements. They can argue that they haven't established a doctor-patient relationship, or Birth injury lawsuits that the standards of care are different from what you claim it to be. In addition, they can challenge your evidence as well as your expert witnesses opinion.

You'll need to provide medical records, any other documentation, as well as a statement describing what went wrong during the birth of your child. You'll also have to submit the demand package, which includes a list of all individuals you consider to be defendants. An experienced lawyer can assist in identifying the appropriate defendants and make sure there's sufficient insurance coverage. A lawyer can assist with costs associated with litigation, like the fees of highly experienced medical experts. This can help ease some of the financial strain that comes when litigating a birth injury claim.