Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

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

If you suspect that your child suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence, contact a birth injury lawyer for help. A reputable lawyer will review your case at no cost and charge no upfront costs. In order to prove your claim, you must establish the four elements.

Duty of Care

Birth of a baby is one of the most joyful and memorable moments in the life of a person. Unfortunately, this process can be traumatic for parents if medical errors result in serious injuries to their baby during the birth process and during labor. These mistakes can be irreparable and cause an entire series of problems for the family.

Medical professionals and doctors are under an obligation under law to treat their patients with the same attention and expertise that is expected from health care providers in similar professions in similar situations. This is known as the duty of care. You must demonstrate that a medical professional violated this duty to win a case. This usually means proving how the medical professional's actions or absence of actions, differed from what a competent and appropriately trained medical professional would have done in the same circumstances.

The second part of a negligence claim is causation. You must prove via medical records and evidence from an expert that the healthcare professional responsible for the breach of duty led to your child's injuries. For instance, a physician might have not been able to keep track of your child's vital signs during labor and delivery. This could have resulted in brain damage as a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Damages are a crucial component in an effective negligence case. You must prove that either you or your child experienced real and quantifiable loss as a result of the healthcare professional's negligence in their duty to care. This includes future and past medical expenses such as lost wages, as well as other damages like discomfort and pain.

Causation

Medical professionals are obligated to patients to provide care that is consistent with the standard of care in their field. A nurse or doctor who fails to meet the standards of care can cause injury to a patient and may result in claims for damages. In order to win a birth injury case an attorney must demonstrate that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This has to be proven by evidence, including medical documents or expert testimony.

It is also essential to prove that your child would not be injured if a medical professional had given the level of medical care expected. Medical experts are asked to examine the situation to determine whether the doctor or hospital was acting in a manner that was not in line with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can cause life-altering consequences that require a lifetime of medical treatments and other costs. It is essential to make hospitals and doctors accountable for their mistakes and seek compensation to help pay for the future needs of your child.

An experienced lawyer who has handled medical malpractice cases can oversee the entire legal procedure for you, including responding to insurer requests and bringing a lawsuit against the responsible parties. They can also build an evidence-based case and secure expert testimony, recover medical records and other documents, and fight for an appropriate settlement to cover your family's losses as well as lifetime care costs.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who will examine medical records, testimonies from your family and you as well as other evidence. They will help establish that the doctor in your case has not complied with their duty to care and caused injuries to your child. They will also estimate the damage you've suffered due to these injuries. This includes the future and present medical expenses as well as the loss of income, the loss of 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 difficult to bring legal action against doctors and hospitals that have acted negligently or with a lack of care. They have lawyers on staff who are employed full-time to protect their clients, deny claims or reduce settlements.

Medical professionals can be held responsible for their actions by hiring an New York birth injuries lawyer. Your lawyer will contact the insurance companies and file a claim in court and construct a solid proof-based case to prove the responsibility. They will also fight to secure you a fair settlement or verdict from a jury for your losses and life-long cost of care. They can also bring your case in time to comply with any applicable deadlines, since the clock starts ticking on the date of the medical negligence or malpractice.

Statute of Limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a case of birth injury is based on four components. Your attorney can explain the components and build a solid legal argument to support your claim.

Medical negligence claims require you to prove that the defendant had a duty of caring towards your child, and that he violated that duty and that his breach caused the injuries to your child. In order for a claim to be successful it is also necessary that you establish causation, which means that the injuries suffered by your child wouldn't have occurred but for the defendant's actions (or inaction).

The defendants can challenge any of these elements. They could argue that you haven't established a doctor-patient connection, or that the standard of care is different from what you declare it to be. Additionally, they may challenge your evidence and your expert witnesses or their opinions.

You'll have to provide medical records, as well as other evidence along with a statement describing what happened during the birth injury law firms of your child. Additionally, you'll need to file an application package that includes a list of all people you think should be named as defendants. A skilled attorney can help you identify the correct defendants and make sure that there is enough insurance coverage. A lawyer can also help in advancing costs related to litigation, such as fees for highly qualified medical experts. This can help reduce some of the financial burden associated with pursuing a claim for birth injury.