The 10 Most Terrifying Things About Birth Injury Law

Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Families expect that their medical doctors and other professionals will ensure a high standard of care. If they fail to do so, birth injuries can be catastrophic to families.

If you suspect your child has suffered a preventable birth injury due to medical negligence, contact a birth injury lawyer to get help. Reputable attorneys will evaluate your case without imposing any upfront fees. To prove your claim, you have to prove the four elements.

Duty of Care

The birth of a baby can be one of the most exciting and memorable events in the lives of any person. Unfortunately, the process can be traumatic for parents when medical mistakes cause serious injuries to the baby during the labor and delivery. These mistakes can be irreversible and force a family to be faced with a series of challenges for the rest of their lives.

Medical professionals and doctors are under a legal obligation to treat their patients with the same care and skill that is expected from health care providers of similar professions in similar situations. This is called the duty of care. In order to win a case against an at-fault healthcare provider you must show that the medical professional breached this duty. This typically means proving that the medical professional's actions or inability to act deviated from what a reasonably trained and competent medical professional would have done under similar circumstances.

The second component in a negligence case is the cause. You must prove through medical records and evidence from an expert that the healthcare professional at fault's breach of duty led to your child's injuries. For example, a doctor may not have observed your child's vital signs during labor and delivery. This could have resulted in prolonged oxygen deprivation which then led to brain damage.

The last element of a successful negligence case is damages. You must prove that you as well as your child suffered real, tangible financial losses from the at-fault healthcare professional's inability to meet their obligation of care. This usually includes future and past medical expenses, lost wages and non-economic losses like suffering and pain.

Causation

Medical professionals are bound to their patients to provide treatment that is in line with standards of their area of expertise. If a medical professional or nurse fails to meet the standard of care, they could cause injury to a patient, and lead to a claim for damages. To prevail in a birth injury case an attorney must demonstrate that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This can be proven with evidence such as medical documents or expert testimony.

It is also essential to establish that your child would not have suffered the injury in the event that the medical professional performed the required standard of medical care. Medical experts are expected to look into the matter and give their opinion regarding whether or not the hospital or doctor performed a procedure that was inconsistent with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can have life-altering consequences that require the use of a lifetime of medical treatment and other costs. It is important to hold at-fault physicians and hospitals accountable for their negligence and seek compensation that can help pay for your child's future needs.

A lawyer who has dealt with medical malpractice cases can manage the entire legal process, including responding to insurance inquiries and filing a suit against the responsible parties. They can also construct a case using evidence, get expert testimony, locate medical records and documents and advocate for fair settlements to pay for the family's lifetime medical costs and expenses.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who examine medical records, testimonies from your family and you and other evidence. They will determine if the doctor who is involved in your case has violated their duty of take care of your child and caused harm to your child. Then, they will determine the amount of damage you have suffered as a result of these injuries. These include the current and future medical expenses as well as the loss of income, the loss of quality of life, emotional distress and other losses.

If nurses, doctors or other medical staff commit mistakes that could be avoided prior to, during, or after the birth injury lawyers of your child, it could have devastating consequences for your family. It can also be difficult to initiate legal action against the hospital and doctors who might have committed malpractice or negligence. They often have their own legal teams working full-time to protect their clients and deny claims or reduce settlement amounts.

If you hire an New York birth injury lawyer to represent you, you can hold medical professionals responsible for your injuries. Your lawyer will contact the insurance companies and then file a claim in court and construct a solid argument based on evidence to establish the liability. They will also advocate for you to get a fair jury verdict or settlement for your losses and costs over your entire life. They will also make your claim in time to comply with any applicable time limit, as the clock starts ticking on the date of the malpractice or medical negligence.

Statute of Limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury case is based on four components. Your lawyer can explain each of them and formulate a convincing legal argument to support your claim.

Medical negligence claims require you to establish that the defendant owed an obligation of care for your child, and that they breached this duty, and that this breach caused the injuries to your child. To be successful in a claim it is essential that you establish causation, which means that your child's injuries wouldn't have occurred but for the actions of the defendant (or inaction).

The defendants have the option of challenging any of these elements. They can claim that there isn't a doctor-patient connection or that the standard of care isn't what you claim it is. Additionally, they could contest your evidence and expert witnesses or their opinions.

You'll need to provide medical records, any other documentation along with a statement describing what happened during the birth of your child. You'll also need to submit a demand package with the names of all individuals you consider to be defendants. An experienced attorney can help you identify the correct defendants and make sure that there is adequate insurance coverage. Lawyers can also help in advancing costs related to litigation including the costs for highly qualified medical experts. This could help ease some of the financial burden associated with litigating a claim for birth injury.