Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Families are conditioned to believe that their doctors and other medical professionals will provide a high standard of care. When they do not, birth injuries can be catastrophic to families.

Contact a birth injury attorney to get help in the event that you suspect your child suffered an injury that could be prevented at birth due to medical malpractice. The most reputable lawyers will review your case without charging any upfront fees. To prove your claim, you must demonstrate the four elements.

Duty of Care

Few occasions in life are more joyful and memorable than the birth of a baby. Unfortunately, the process can be traumatic for some parents if medical errors cause serious injuries to the baby during labor and birth. These mistakes can be irreversible and make a family endure a lifetime of difficulties.

Doctors and other medical professionals have a legal obligation to treat patients with the respect and skill that is normally expected of health care providers in their field under similar circumstances. This is referred to as the duty of care. If you want to prevail against an at-fault healthcare provider, you must prove that the medical professional breached this obligation. This usually means proving that the medical professional's actions or the lack of them, differed from what a competent and properly trained medical professional would perform under the same circumstances.

The second element in a negligence lawsuit is causation. You must establish through 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 not have been able to observe your child's vital indicators during labor and birth. This could have led to prolonged oxygen deprivation which then led to brain damage.

The final aspect of a successful negligence case is damages. You must prove that you and/or your child suffered actual and quantifiable loss as a result of the healthcare professional's negligence to perform their duty of care. This usually includes past and future medical expenses, lost wages and other non-economic losses such as pain and suffering.

Causation

Medical professionals have a responsibility to their patients to provide them with care that is consistent with the standards of their area of expertise. If a medical professional or nurse fails to meet this standard of care, it could cause injury to the patient, and lead to an action for damages. To succeed in the case of a birth injury the attorney must prove that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This has to be proved by evidence like medical documents and expert testimony.

It is also essential to prove that your child wouldn't have suffered an injury in the event that a medical professional been able to provide the level of care that is expected. Medical experts are obligated to review the case and offer their opinions on whether the doctor or hospital acted in a way that was incompatible with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can be life-changing and require medical treatment for the rest of their lives. It is essential to hold doctors and hospitals accountable for their negligence, and receive compensation to pay for the future needs of your child.

A lawyer who has handled medical malpractice cases can handle the entire legal process, including responding to insurance inquiries and filing a suit against the parties responsible. They can also create an evidence-based argument and obtain expert testimony, locate medical records along with other records and seek a fair settlement that covers the loss of your family as well as lifelong costs of care.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who will look over medical records, witness statements from your family and you and other evidence. They will determine if the doctor in your case violated their duty to care and caused injuries to your child. Then, they'll estimate the damages that you have suffered because of those injuries. This includes the current and future medical expenses, the loss of income, the loss of quality of life, emotional distress, and many other losses.

It can be a tragedy for your family members when nurses, doctors and other medical personnel make inexcusable mistakes prior to or even after the birth your child. It can be difficult to take legal action against doctors and hospitals that may have committed malpractice or negligence. They have teams of lawyers who work full-time to protect their clients, deny claims or reduce settlements.

You can hold medical professionals responsible for their actions by hiring a New York birth injuries lawyer. Your lawyer will communicate with the insurers and file a claim in court and build a solid argument based on evidence to establish liability. They will also advocate for you to secure a fair jury verdict or settlement for your losses as well as care costs over your lifetime. They can also make a claim in time for any applicable statute of limitations, as the clock begins to tick from the time the malpractice or negligence occurred.

Statute of Limitations

Four components are essential to be successful in claiming for compensation if a birth injury occurs. Your lawyer can explain each element and create a strong legal argument in support of your claim.

Medical negligence claims are based on proving that the defendant owed you a duty of care and that the defendant violated this duty, and that the breach directly caused the injuries to your child. It is essential to prove causation in order to be successful in an action. This means that the defendant's actions or inability to act could not have caused your child's injuries.

The defendants have the option of challenging any of these elements. They could argue that there is no doctor-patient relationship or that standard of care isn't what you claim it is. They can also challenge your evidence, or the opinions of your expert witnesses.

To prove breach of obligation, you'll need submit medical records as well as other documentation and a written statement of what went wrong with your child's birth. Also, you'll need submit an demand package, which includes the names of all parties you believe should be named defendants. An experienced lawyer can help you establish the appropriate defendants and ensure there's adequate insurance coverage. A lawyer can also assist with the advancement of litigation-related costs, such as fees for highly qualified medical experts. This can help to reduce some of the financial stress associated with litigating a claim for birth injury.