Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

The birth of a child is a potentially dangerous and stressful experience, but families expect their medical professionals and doctors to provide a high level of medical care. When they do not, birth injuries can be catastrophic to families.

Contact a birth injury lawyer for help in the event that you suspect your child has suffered an injury that could be prevented during birth due to medical malpractice. Reputable lawyers will evaluate your case at no cost and will not charge any upfront fees. In order to prove your claim, you have to prove the four elements.

Duty of Care

Few life events are more exciting and special than the birth of a baby. Unfortunately, this process can be traumatic for parents when medical errors result in severe injuries to their baby during birth and labor. These errors can be irreversible, creating the possibility of a lifetime of difficulties for a family.

Medical professionals and doctors are required by law to treat patients with the respect and competence that is expected of health professionals in their field in similar situations. This is called the duty of care. If you want to prevail against a healthcare provider who is at fault it is necessary to prove that the medical professional violated this duty. This usually involves demonstrating how the medical professional's actions or absence of actions, differed from what a qualified and competent medical professional would do in similar circumstances.

The second aspect in a negligence case is the causation. You must prove, using medical documents and expert testimony that the at-fault healthcare provider's breach of duty caused the injury to your child. For instance, a healthcare professional may not have observed your child's vital indicators during labor and birth. This could have caused brain damage due to prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Damages are the final element in the case of a successful negligence claim. You must prove that you and your child suffered, quantifiable financial losses resulting from the at-fault medical professional's failure to perform their duty of care. This typically includes past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and other non-economic losses such as suffering and pain.

Causation

Medical professionals owe a duty to patients to provide care that is consistent with the standards of care in their field. A nurse or doctor who fails to adhere to the standard of care may cause injuries to a patient and lead to a claim for damages. To succeed in a birth injury lawsuit the attorney must prove that the breach of duty directly led to your child's injuries. This can be proven through evidence, such as medical documents or expert testimony.

It is also necessary to prove that your child would not have suffered the injury even if the medical professional performed the required standard of medical care. Medical experts are expected to review the case and give their opinion regarding whether or not the hospital or doctor did something 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 the rest of their lives. It is essential to hold hospitals and doctors accountable for their negligence, and receive compensation to cover the future requirements of your child.

A lawyer who has dealt with medical malpractice cases can handle the entire legal process including responding to insurance inquiries and filing a suit against the parties responsible. They can also develop an argument using evidence, get expert testimony, access documents and medical records and negotiate fair settlements that cover the family's costs for care throughout their lifetime and losses.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who review medical records, testimony from your family and you, and other evidence. They will help you establish that the medical professional or hospital involved in your case violated their duty of care and caused injuries to your child. They will then determine the amount of damage you have suffered as a result of these injuries. Included are your current and future medical costs as well as lost wages, loss in quality of life, emotional distress and other losses.

It can be devastating for your family members when doctors, nurses and other medical staff make preventable mistakes before, during or after the birth your child. It can be also difficult to take legal action against doctors and hospitals who may have committed negligence or malpractice. They have teams of lawyers who are employed full-time to protect their clients, reject claims or reduce settlements.

When you employ a New York birth injury lawyer to represent you, you can hold medical professionals at fault accountable. Your lawyer will handle communication with insurers and then submit your claim to court, and construct an evidence-based argument to prove responsibility. They will also fight to get you a fair settlement or jury verdict for your losses and life-long healthcare costs. They may also file a lawsuit in time for any applicable statute of limitation, as the clock begins to run from the day the medical malpractice or negligence occurred.

Statute of Limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury lawsuit is based on four components. Your attorney can help you understand the factors and craft a solid legal argument to support your claim.

Medical negligence claims are based on showing that the defendant owed you the duty of care and that the defendant violated this duty and that the breach directly resulted in your child's injuries. It is essential to prove causation to win a claim. This means that the defendant's actions or inability to act could not have resulted in the injury of your child.

The defendants can challenge any of these elements. They could argue that you don't have a doctor-patient relationship, or that the standards of care are different from what you declare it to be. Additionally, they could contest your evidence and expert witnesses opinion.

To prove that you have breached your duty, you'll have to provide medical records and other documents along with a statement of what went wrong with the birth of your child. You'll also have to submit a demand package with the names of all people you believe should be named as defendants. An experienced attorney will assist you in identifying the most appropriate defendants and ensure there is sufficient insurance coverage. A lawyer can assist with litigation-related expenses, for example the fees of highly qualified medical experts. This could help ease some of the financial burden associated with litigating an injury claim arising from birth.