Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Families are conditioned to believe that their doctors and other medical professionals will maintain a high level of care. If they don't, birth injuries can be devastating to families.

Contact a birth injury attorney to get help if you suspect that your child has suffered an injury that could have been prevented during birth due to medical malpractice. Reputable lawyers will evaluate your case for free and charge no upfront costs. A successful claim requires proving the four elements of your case.

Duty of Care

Few occasions in life are more memorable and special than the birth of a baby. However, the birth process can turn traumatic for parents when medical errors result in serious injuries to the baby during labor and birth. These mistakes can be irreversible and cause a family confront a long list of challenges.

Doctors and other medical professionals owe a legal duty to treat patients with the care and expertise that is expected of health care providers in their field in similar situations. This is called the duty of care. You must demonstrate that a medical professional acted in violation of this duty in order to prevail on a case. This usually means proving that the medical professional's actions or absence of actions, differed from what a qualified and appropriately trained medical professional would perform under the same circumstances.

The second part of a negligence claim is causation. You must prove, using medical documents and expert testimony that the healthcare provider at fault's negligence caused the injury to your child. For instance, a healthcare professional might have not been able to keep track of your child's vital signs during labor and delivery. This could have caused brain damage due to prolonged oxygen deprivation.

The last element of a successful negligence case is damages. You have to prove that you and/or your child experienced real significant, quantifiable damages as a result of the healthcare professional's incompetence when it came to their duty of care. This includes future and past medical costs, lost wages, as well as non-economic damages such as pain and discomfort.

Causation

Medical professionals are required to patients to provide treatment consistent with the standard of care in their field of. A nurse or doctor who does not meet the standard of care can cause injury to a patient, and lead to a claim for damages. To win a case involving birth injury attorney injuries, an attorney will need to prove the breach of duty led to your child's injury. This must be proved with evidence, including medical documents or expert testimony.

It is also important to establish that your child would not have suffered the injury if the medical professional had performed the required standard of treatment. Medical experts are asked to examine the case to determine if a doctor or hospital acted in a manner that was not in accordance with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can be life-changing and require medical treatment for a lifetime. It is vital that you hold hospitals and doctors accountable for their mistakes, and receive compensation to help pay for the future needs of your child.

A lawyer with experience in handling medical malpractice cases will manage the entire legal procedure for you, including responding to insurer requests and bringing a lawsuit against the responsible parties. They can also develop an argument with the help of evidence, obtain expert testimony, locate medical records and documents and advocate for fair settlements to pay for the family's costs for care throughout their lifetime and expenses.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who look over medical records, witness statements from your family and you, and other evidence. They will help establish that the doctor involved in your case acted outside of their duty to care for your child and causing injuries to your child. They will also estimate the damages you have suffered because of these injuries. These include the future and present medical expenses, lost wages, loss in quality of life, emotional distress and other losses.

It can be a tragedy for your family if doctors, nurses and other medical staff commit errors that could have been avoided prior to or after the birth your child. It can also be difficult to take legal action against the hospitals and doctors who could have acted negligently or erroneously. They usually have their own teams of lawyers working full-time to protect clients and to deny claims or reduce settlement amounts.

By hiring an New York birth injury lawyer who can hold the at-fault medical professionals accountable. Your lawyer will be in contact with the insurers and file a claim with the court and develop a solid evidence-based case to establish the liability. They will also fight to secure you an appropriate settlement or verdict from a jury to cover your losses and future care costs. They can also bring your case in time to satisfy any applicable statute of limitations, since the clock begins ticking off from the date of the medical negligence or malpractice.

Statute of limitations

Four factors are essential for a successful claim to be compensated when a birth injury occurs. Your lawyer can explain the components and build a strong legal case in support of your claim.

Medical negligence claims are based on proving that the defendant owed you the duty of care, that the defendant breached this duty, and that the breach directly caused the injuries to your child. To be successful in a claim it is essential that you establish causation, which means that the injuries suffered by your child could not have occurred without the defendant's actions (or the failure to act).

Defendants may challenge any of these elements. They could argue that you aren't establishing a doctor-patient partnership, or that the standards of care are different than what you assert it to be. They can also challenge your evidence as well as your expert witnesses and their opinions.

You'll have to provide medical records, other documents and a statement describing what was wrong with the birth of your child. You'll also have to submit a demand package with a list of all people you consider to be defendants. A knowledgeable attorney can assist you in identifying most appropriate defendants and ensure there is sufficient insurance coverage. Lawyers can also help in advancing the costs associated with litigation such as the cost of highly qualified medical experts. This could help ease some of the financial stress associated with pursuing a claim for birth injury.