Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Childbirth is a risky and stressful time, but families expect their medical professionals and doctors to provide a high level of care. Birth injuries can be catastrophic for families when they're not properly treated.

If you suspect that your child was born with a preventable injury due to medical malpractice and you suspect that your child suffered a birth injury, contact a lawyer to get help. The most reputable lawyers will review your case with no upfront costs. To prove your claim, you must prove the four elements.

Duty of Care

Few events in life are more joyful and memorable than the birth of a baby. Unfortunately, the birth process can become traumatic for parents if medical errors cause serious injuries to their child during birth and labor. These mistakes are often irreparable and cause a family to endure a lifetime of difficulties.

Doctors and medical professionals have the legal obligation of treating their patients with the same level of care and expertise that they expect from health care professionals of similar professions in similar situations. This is called the duty of care. You must demonstrate that a medical professional acted in violation of this duty to settle an action. This usually involves demonstrating that the medical professional's actions or inability to act deviated from what a reasonably trained and competent medical professional would have done under the same circumstances.

The second aspect of a negligence claim is causation. You must prove via medical records and evidence from an expert that the healthcare provider responsible for the breach of duty caused your child's injuries. A doctor, for example might not have been able to monitor your child's vitals during labor and birth. This could have led to prolonged oxygen deprivation which in turn caused brain damage.

The final component of a successful negligence claim is damages. You must prove that you as well as your child suffered significant financial losses, birth injury lawsuit which are quantifiable, resulting from the at-fault healthcare professional's failure to perform their duty of care. This includes future and past medical costs in addition to lost wages, as well as non-economic damages such as pain and discomfort.

Causation

Medical professionals are bound to their patients to provide care that is in accordance with standards in their area of expertise. A doctor or nurse who does not meet the standards of care could cause injuries to a patient and may result in a claim for damages. To succeed in a birth injury lawsuit the attorney must prove that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This has to be proven by evidence, including medical records or expert testimony.

It is also important to prove that your child wouldn't have suffered the injury in the event that the medical professional performed the required standard of treatment. Medical experts are required to examine the case to determine if the doctor or the hospital behaved in a way that was not in accordance with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can alter the course of your child's life and require medical treatment for a lifetime. It is crucial to hold hospitals and doctors accountable for their negligence, and receive compensation to meet the future requirements of your child.

A lawyer who has handled medical malpractice cases has the ability to handle the entire legal process, including responding to insurance requests and filing a lawsuit against the accountable parties. They can also develop a case with the help of evidence, obtain expert testimony, obtain medical records and documents, and fight for fair settlements to pay for the family's life-long care costs and expenses.

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 determine if the doctor who is involved in your case violated their duty of care and caused injuries to your child. They will also estimate the damage you have suffered as a result of those injuries. This includes the future and present medical expenses in addition to loss of wages, loss of quality of life, emotional distress, and many other losses.

It can be a tragedy for your family if nurses, doctors and other medical professionals make preventable mistakes before or even after the birth your child. It can also be difficult to initiate legal action against hospitals and birth injury lawsuit doctors who could have acted negligently or erroneously. They have teams of lawyers who are employed full-time to defend their clients, deflect claims or decrease settlements.

You can hold medical professionals accountable for their actions by hiring a New York birth injuries lawyer. The lawyer will negotiate with the insurers and then file a claim in court and develop a solid evidence-based case to establish liability. They will also advocate for you to secure an equitable jury verdict or settlement for your losses as well as care costs over your entire life. They can also file your lawsuit in time to meet any applicable statute of limitations, as the clock starts ticking on the date of the medical negligence or malpractice.

Statute of Limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury lawsuit includes four parts. Your lawyer can provide a detailed explanation of each element and develop a solid legal argument to support your claim.

Medical negligence claims require that you prove that the defendant had a duty of caring towards your child, and that he violated that duty and that this breach led to the injuries to your child. To prove a claim it is essential to prove causation which means that your child's injuries would not have occurred if it weren't for the defendant's actions (or failure to act).

Defendants may challenge any of these elements. They could argue that there is no doctor-patient relationship or that the standard of care is not what you claim it is. Additionally, they could challenge your evidence as well as your expert witnesses' opinions.

You'll need medical records, any other documentation and an account of what went wrong during the birth of your child. Additionally, you'll need to file an application package that includes an inventory of all the individuals you believe should be named as defendants. An experienced lawyer can help to identify the proper defendants and ensure you have adequate insurance coverage. Lawyers can also help with advancing litigation-related expenses including the costs for highly qualified medical experts. This could help ease some of the financial stress that comes with litigating a claim for birth injury.