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Birth Injury Settlement
A birth injury settlement can provide long-term treatment options which will help your child live a more comfortable life. These treatments may include medications along with home modifications and devices like wheelchairs.
Many families settle their cases due to the fact that medical malpractice trials are rare. However, the amount of a settlement will depend on many factors.
Damages
Birth injuries can impact every aspect of a child's life, including their quality of living. For instance, some people need medication to manage symptoms and others require modifications to their homes or medical equipment like wheelchairs. In addition, parents may have to quit their jobs to care for their children, leading to a loss of income. A lawyer will calculate the estimated lifetime treatment costs and seek enough compensation to cover the costs.
The amount of a settlement depends on the severity and duration of the injury. For instance, a person with cerebral palsy will likely have a higher lifetime medical expenses than a person suffering from Erb's Palsy or shoulder dystocia, which are injuries that are less severe. Certain states restrict the amount of non-economic damages for suffering, pain and emotional distress, which may reduce the value of a settlement.
Both sides will gather evidence from witnesses and create evidence when a lawsuit is filed. The parties will eventually meet to discuss possible solutions via settlement discussions. If negotiations fail, the case could proceed to trial. A judge and jury will hear arguments and then make a decision. However, trials are generally more costly and time-consuming than settlements. It is recommended to settle your case as soon as possible.
Expert Witnesses
Expert witnesses can be an invaluable resource in proving any claim for damages. They also play a critical role in the process of proving causation, which is essential to any medical malpractice claim. It may be difficult for jurors to decide if your child's injuries result of a doctor's infraction to accepted professional practices without the assistance of an expert.
Your attorney must establish a link between negligence and the injuries suffered by your child to prove causality. This can be accomplished by various methods such as medical records and expert witness testimony. Your lawyer will be able to help you locate the best expert witness to assist your case.
Your legal team will identify each defendant in the event of birth injuries to your child. These can include obstetricians, medical specialists for maternal-fetal medicine, nurses during labor and delivery, and other healthcare professionals. They must then establish the appropriate standard of medical care, which is usually determined by the current medical knowledge. This will require a thorough review and analysis of your child's records that may be complicated.
Your attorney will also need to estimate your child's needs for care. This can be a bit complicated as it involves estimating costs for equipment and therapies and caregivers at home, as well as additional procedures and surgeries and many more. Your lawyer will collaborate with expert witnesses to help to accurately calculate the cost of these future expenses.
Statute of Limitations
A birth injury case requires careful investigation and the involvement of medical experts. It is crucial to select an attorney with deep knowledge of the subject matter and understands how to build a solid case.
The first step is to establish that the defendant acted in breach of his duty of care. This requires review of medical records and appointing the doctors involved. A lawyer will also hire medical experts to provide an opinion as to whether the doctors acted in a proper manner under the circumstances.
Medical negligence is defined as the failure to perform the standards of care and competence. This standard applies to doctors and other health care professionals however, it is more strict for specialists such as obstetricians who have a vast amount of training and Birth Injury knowledge. A legal case must also establish causation, which implies that a medical mistake directly led to the child's injury.
New York law gives parents two years to file a malpractice lawsuit on behalf of their child who has suffered injury. However, minors aren't able to file a lawsuit themselves under CPLR Sec. 1207.1. They must have a parent or guardian file on their behalf. Medical malpractice claims are subject to statutory limitations on damages, which also include non-economic damages. This limit is typically set by the court and is usually based on the number of similar cases in the state.
Getting Started
An experienced attorney is needed to secure the right amount of compensation and acknowledgement for the injuries a child suffers due to medical negligence or malpractice during birth. The legal team you choose is aware of how to evaluate the many factors that impact the settlement for a birth injury lawsuits injury and how to argue for these in court to obtain the highest amount of money.
A free consultation with an attorney is the first stage in establishing a rapport between you and your lawyer. Once that happens your lawyer will begin investigating the case, which includes reviewing medical records and calling expert witnesses to define the accepted standards of care for the procedure in question.
Your lawyer will also work with defendants' insurance companies and press them to settle for a fair amount of damages. If this doesn't work, your attorney will file a lawsuit against the medical professionals to present the case in front of the judge and jury.
Your lawyer will create the documents needed to calculate the damages you and your child are entitled to. This includes the projected costs of any future medical treatment as well as loss of income and other economic damages. Your lawyer can also map out the lifetime costs of care for your child's injuries. This is known as life-care planning. This usually is a large portion of the settlement.