Birth Injury Compensation

It can be devastating when your child suffers birth injury as a result of a doctor's negligence. These injuries often require lifetime treatment and care, leaving you with immense financial burdens.

Additionally, many birth injury cases are an intricate debate over medical malpractice versus medical mistakes. Our lawyers can help you understand the distinctions.

Costs of Treatment

When determining how much to award for a birth injury the attorneys of insurance companies and judges evaluate the extent of the injury and its impact on the child's life quality. For instance when a child needs continuous medical treatment that will increase the value of an claim.

Medical treatment for birth injury can be expensive. Compensation awarded for a birth injury can help families pay for the costs. Lawyers often collaborate with experts to put together an "Life Care Plan" which estimates the lifelong expenses incurred by a child's accident. These costs include hospitalization, surgeries, specialized medical treatments, prescriptions, home improvements and equipment, etc.

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

Many states have passed medical indemnity funds in order to provide financial support to families of children suffering from birth injuries. These funds take a percentage of malpractice insurance premiums. They also require doctors and hospitals to contribute to an account of resources. In addition to providing monetary aid, these programs can also reduce the requirement for families to bring a lawsuit. However, JLARC staff found that these programs don't always meet their goals and could be improved.

Life Care Planning

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

A life-care plan document is an important document that outlines the future medical, education, home and other expenses a child with disabilities will have to pay for throughout his or her life. These plans are typically utilized to calculate the amount of the damages awarded in a case of birth injury. These plans must be comprehensive and carefully written in order to comply with the strict requirements for admissibility.

Life-care experts can assist to develop these documents based on feedback and formal opinions from the child's doctor as well as therapists and other caregivers. The plans include a comprehensive description of the initial injury and the diagnosis. They also explain the root cause of the disability and its long-term effects.

An attorney for medical malpractice should collaborate with a planner for life to draft the best possible strategy for their client's particular situation. The aim 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 needs, which is managed by an approved administrator. The amount awarded is usually adjusted periodically to reflect changes in the future needs of your child.

Suffering and Pain

In a birth injury case damages are awarded to cover a plaintiff's past and future suffering and pain. This includes physical and mental discomfort caused by the injury, as well as the inability of the plaintiff to take part in activities that other people could be able to do.

You may also recover income if an injury hinders their professional options or prohibits them from working all. Families may also be compensated to care for an injured child.

Medical malpractice cases often receive very high verdicts, since juries are more likely to show compassion for the victims and hold doctors accountable for their errors. This is why many hospitals and doctors choose to settle instead of risking a trial, which is expensive and stressful for all parties involved.

Both sides will gather evidence to back their arguments during the litigation. They will exchange documents during the process known as discovery, which includes deposing witness to get statements under swearing. In most states, defendants may also demand access to the plaintiff's records.

A lawyer with experience in this type of case is essential to make a successful claim for birth injuries. An experienced attorney will go over the facts of your case to determine if it meets the requirements for a lawsuit, and make sure you get the best financial settlement that is possible.

Punitive Damages

Certain medical malpractice lawsuits include punitive damages. These are intended to communicate a message to prevent future negligence. These damages are awarded when there is a substantial amount of malice or negligence on the part of the doctor. They are rare in the case of birth injuries.

Once the attorney has identified the appropriate defendants, they must gather and analyze evidence to support their assertions. They must demonstrate that the injuries caused by medical professionals did not comply with the standard of care. The legal team should also provide evidence of losses associated with the injuries, also known as "damages." These damages could be economic or non-economic.

The economic losses are usually calculated by taking into account the cost of the child's ongoing treatment, including long-term care facilities as well as other services. They can also include losses in earnings if the injury caused one or both parents to quit their jobs.

The legal team will develop an offer package that they will present to the malpractice insurance companies. The document will explain the birth injuries and their effects on the child and family, attorneys and ask for compensation for these losses. The attorneys will negotiate with medical providers until a settlement is reached. During the discovery process, attorneys will exchange information with the other party about their cases. This includes depositions of witnesses who swear to testify under oath.