Birth Injury Compensation

If your child suffers a birth injury due to the negligence of a doctor or wrongful decision, it could be devastating. These injuries can require ongoing treatment and care. You'll be left with huge financial costs.

A lot of birth injury cases involve a complex debate over medical malpractice versus medical errors. Our lawyers can help you to understand the distinctions.

Costs of Treatment

In determining the amount to award for a Washington birth injury lawyer injury attorneys from insurance companies and judges take into account the severity of the injury and its impact on the child's life quality. For instance, birth injury attorney if a child requires extensive ongoing medical treatment, this will increase the value of an claim.

Medical treatment for birth injuries can be very expensive. Compensation for birth injuries could assist families with these costs. Lawyers and experts often work together to create an "Life Care Plan" which estimates the costs of a child's injuries over a lifetime. These costs include hospitalization, surgery, medical treatments prescriptions, home improvement and equipment, etc.

Your legal team will gather medical records from the pregnancy as well as the birth of your child, in addition to firsthand accounts from relatives. They will be used to demonstrate that your child suffered an injury due to negligence by a medical professional, and to demonstrate the extent of the harm caused.

Many states have passed medical indemnity funds in order to provide financial support to families of children who suffer from birth injuries. These funds can either collect the portion of malpractice insurance premiums or require doctors and hospital to contribute to an asset pool. In addition to providing monetary aid, these programs can also help reduce the necessity for families to make a claim. However, JLARC staff found that these programs don't always achieve their goals and should be improved.

Life Care Planning

Children with conditions like hypoxic ischephalopathy or cerebral palsy will require medical attention for the rest of their lives. These requirements include physical therapy, specialized equipment and home health. These expenses can be very expensive.

A life-care planning document a document which outlines the future medical, education home, and other costs children with disabilities will incur throughout his or her lifetime. These plans are often used to help calculate the economic component of the damages awarded in a case involving a birth injury. The plans must be precise and carefully written in order to satisfy the strict requirements of admissibility.

Experts in life-care planning may assist in the development of these documents based on the their input and the formal opinions of a disabled child’s doctors or therapists, as well as the caregivers. The plans also include an in-depth description of the initial injury and diagnosis. They also explain the root cause of the disability and the long-term consequences.

A medical malpractice attorney must work with a life care planner to develop the most effective plan for their client's needs. The purpose of the plan is to ensure that your child receives the proper compensation to cover the cost of all of his or her future medical and other expenses. The money is typically put into a trust for special requirements, which is managed by an approved administrator. The amount of money given is usually adjusted annually to reflect changes in the future requirements of your child.

Pain and Suffering

In a case involving a birth injury the damages awarded are for the plaintiff's past and future pain and suffering. This includes physical and mental discomfort caused by the injury as well as the inability to engage in activities normally enjoyed by other people.

It is also possible to recover for lost income if a victim's disability limits their professional options or prevents them from working at all. Families can also be compensated if they are required to provide care for the child who is injured.

The verdicts in medical malpractice cases are typically extremely high because juries tend to be sympathetic to victims and hold doctors accountable for their actions. Because of this, many hospitals and doctors choose to settle instead of taking on the trial process, which is costly and stressful for the parties involved.

During the lawsuit attorneys from both sides will gather evidence to justify their arguments. They will exchange documents in the course of discovery, which involves deposing witnesses to get statements under oath. The defendants may also request to see the plaintiff's medical records, which is legal in all states.

An experienced lawyer who has handled this type of case is required to submit an effective claim for birth injury. An experienced lawyer will examine the details of your case, determine if the case meets the requirements for a lawsuit, and ensure the highest financial settlement you can get.

Punitive Damages

Certain medical malpractice lawsuits contain punitive damages. These are designed to communicate a message to discourage any future negligent behavior. They are awarded in cases involving particularly serious negligence or where there was malice on the part of the medical professional. However, they are rare in cases of birth injuries.

Once the attorney has identified the proper defendants, they must examine and gather evidence to back up their claims. They must prove that the injuries sustained by medical professionals did not comply with a high level of care. The legal team must also be able to provide evidence of the damages resulting from the injuries, which is known as "damages." This information could be of a financial or non-economic in nature.

Economic losses are usually calculated by estimation of the cost of a child's ongoing care, which includes long-term care facilities and other services. These may also include lost earnings if an injury resulted in both parents to lose their job.

The legal team will create a demand form for the malpractice insurance companies. The document will outline the birth injury law firm injuries, and their impact on the child and family, and ask for compensation for the loss. The attorneys will negotiate with medical professionals until a settlement is reached. During this process, attorneys will discuss their cases with the other side through discovery, which includes taking depositions from witnesses who are required to testify under oath.