Birth Injury Compensation

It can be devastating when your child suffers birth injury as a result of a doctor's negligence. These injuries may require lifetime treatment and treatment. You will be left with huge financial costs.

Many birth injuries cases require a lengthy debate on medical malpractice versus medical errors. Our attorneys can explain the distinctions.

Costs of Treatment

In determining the amount to pay for a birth injury, insurance companies attorneys and judges look at the extent of the injury and its impact on the child's quality of life. For instance, if a child requires extensive ongoing medical treatment which will raise the value of an insurance claim.

Medical treatment for birth injuries can be extremely expensive. Compensation for birth injuries could assist families with these costs. Lawyers and experts often work together to develop a "Life Care Plan" which calculates the cost of a child's injury over the course of their lives. This includes hospitalization costs including surgical interventions, specialized medical treatment prescriptions, home renovations and equipment, and more.

Your legal team will gather medical records from your child's pregnancy and birth and also firsthand accounts from relatives. These records will be used to prove that your child was injured as a result of medical malpractice, and also to prove the extent of the injury.

Many states have enacted medical indemnity funds in order to provide financial assistance to families of children suffering from birth injuries. These funds either collect the portion of malpractice insurance premiums, or require hospitals and doctors to contribute to the resource pool. These programs can help families with financial assistance and reduce the need to file a suit. However, JLARC staff found that these programs don't always meet their objectives and could be improved.

Life Care Planning

Children suffering from conditions such as cerebral palsy or hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy will have ongoing medical requirements. These include physical therapy, specialized equipment, and home health care. Often, these costs can be quite significant.

A life-care planning plan is an outline of the future medical, educational home, and other expenditures a child with disabilities will have to pay for throughout his or her lifetime. These plans are used to calculate the financial portion of the compensation awarded in cases of birth injury. These plans must be comprehensive and meticulously drafted to comply with the strict requirements for admissibility.

Life-care experts can assist in the creation of these documents by utilizing the their input and the formal opinions from a child's doctors or therapists, as well as the caregivers. The plans include a comprehensive account of the injury and its diagnosis. They also explain the root reason for the disability and its long-term consequences.

A medical malpractice attorney must work with a life care planner to create the most effective plan for their client's situation. The aim of the plan is to ensure that your child receives adequate compensation to cover all of their future expenses and medical care. The funds are usually placed in a special needs trust that is managed by a reputable administrator. The amount of money that is awarded is typically adjusted every few months to reflect changes in the future needs of your child.

Pain and Suffering

In cases involving birth injuries and damages are awarded to compensate the plaintiff for future and past pain and birth injuries discomfort. This includes mental and physical distress from the injury, and also an inability to participate in the activities that are normally enjoyed by other people.

You may also be able to recover lost earnings if the injury of a victim restricts their career options or prevents them from working at all. Additionally, families could be compensated if they are required to assist in the care of an injured child.

The verdicts in medical malpractice cases are usually extremely high, since juries are often sympathetic towards victims and hold doctors accountable for their errors. Due to this, some hospitals and doctors prefer to settle instead of undergoing the possibility of a trial, which is expensive and stressful for all parties involved.

Both sides will gather evidence to support their arguments in the course of litigation. They will share documents in a process known as discovery, which involves the deposition of witnesses to obtain statements under the oath. In many states, defendants can also request to view the records of the plaintiff.

A successful birth injury lawsuit requires an experienced lawyer in these types of cases. An experienced attorney will review the facts of your case to determine if it satisfies the legal requirements and make sure you get the best financial settlement possible.

Punitive Damages

Some medical malpractice suits include punitive damages, which are meant as a stern warning to prevent future negligence. They may be awarded in cases that involve serious negligence or where there was willful misconduct on the part the doctor. However, they are not common in cases of birth injuries.

After identifying the defendants the attorney needs to gather and examine the evidence to back the claim. They must demonstrate that the injuries incurred by medical professionals were not at an acceptable standard of care. The legal team also needs to show the financial losses resulting from these injuries, known as "damages." The information could be either economic or non-economic in the sense that it is not a loss.

Economic losses are typically calculated by making estimates of the cost of the child's ongoing medical treatment, which includes long-term care facilities and other services. They could also consider loss of earnings if the injury has caused one or both parents to quit their jobs.

The legal team will prepare the demand package which they will give to malpractice insurers. The document will outline the birth injury lawyer injuries and the impact they have on the child and family, and demand compensation for the loss. The attorneys will negotiate with medical professionals until they reach a settlement. During the discovery process, attorneys will exchange information with the other party about their case. This may include depositions of witnesses that take oath testimony.