Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Birth is a dangerous and stressful experience, however families expect their doctors and other medical professionals to ensure a high quality of medical care. Birth injuries can be catastrophic for families when they're not treated appropriately.

Contact a birth injury lawyer to seek assistance if you suspect that your child has suffered an injury that could be prevented at birth due to medical malpractice. A reputable lawyer will review your case without imposing any upfront costs. To prove your claim, you must establish the four elements.

Duty of Care

The birth of a child is one of the most exciting and significant events in the life of a person. However, the birth process can be difficult for parents who have medical errors result in serious injuries to the baby during labor or delivery. These errors can be irreversible and create a lifetime of challenges for the family.

Medical professionals and doctors have the legal obligation of treating their patients with the same respect and expertise that they expect from health care providers of similar professions in similar circumstances. This is called the duty of care. If you want to prevail against a healthcare provider at fault, you must prove that the medical professional breached this obligation. This typically involves proving how the medical professional's actions, or their lack thereof, were different from what a qualified and properly trained medical professional would have done in similar circumstances.

The second element in a negligence lawsuit is the issue of causation. You must show, via medical documents and expert testimony that the at-fault healthcare provider's negligence caused the injury to your child. A doctor, for example could not have observed the vitals of your child during labor and delivery. This could have resulted in prolonged oxygen deprivation, which, in turn, caused brain damage.

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

Causation

Medical professionals have a responsibility to patients to provide care that is consistent with the highest standards of care in their area of expertise. A nurse or doctor who does not meet the standards of care can cause injuries to a patient and could result in an action for damages. To succeed in a birth injury lawsuit an attorney must demonstrate that the breach of duty directly caused your child's injuries. This can be proven through 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 medical care. Medical experts are obligated to examine the case and offer their opinions on whether or not the hospital or doctor did something that was not in accordance with accepted medical procedures.

Birth injuries can be life-changing and require medical care for a lifetime. It is crucial to hold at-fault doctors and hospitals responsible for their negligence and obtain compensation that can help the future of your child's needs.

A lawyer who is experienced in handling medical malpractice cases can handle the entire legal procedure for you, including responding to insurer requests and bringing a lawsuit against the responsible parties. They can also develop a case with the help of evidence, obtain expert testimony, obtain medical records and documents, and fight for fair settlements to pay for the family's lifetime care costs and expenses.

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 assist you in proving that the doctor or hospital involved in your case violated their duty of care and caused your child to suffer injuries. They will also estimate the damages that you have suffered because of those injuries. These include your future and current medical expenses in addition to lost wages, loss of quality of life, emotional distress and other losses.

It can be a devastating experience for your family members when doctors, nurses and other medical personnel make errors that could have been avoided prior to or during the birth of your child. It isn't easy to bring legal action against hospitals and doctors who may have committed malpractice or negligence. They have teams of lawyers who work full-time for them to protect their clients, reject claims or reduce settlements.

When you employ an New York birth injury lawyer to represent you, you can hold medical professionals at fault accountable. Your lawyer will handle communication with insurers and will file your claim in court, and create solid evidence-based arguments to prove the responsibility. They will also fight to secure you an acceptable settlement or jury verdict for your losses and life-long care costs. They may also bring a lawsuit within the timeframe for any applicable statute of limitation in the event that the clock begins to tick from the time the medical malpractice or negligence occurred.

Statute of limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury lawsuit includes four parts. Your attorney can explain the factors and craft an effective legal argument in support of your claim.

Medical negligence claims require you to establish that the defendant owed the duty of care towards your child, and that he breached that duty, and that this breach led to the injuries to your child. It is crucial to prove causation in order to be successful in a claim. This means that the defendant's actions or omission to act could not have caused the injuries to your child.

Defense attorneys can challenge any of these elements. They could claim that there isn't a doctor-patient relationship, or that the standard of care isn't what you claim it to be. Additionally, they could contest your evidence and expert witnesses opinion.

You'll have to provide medical records, other documents and a statement describing what occurred during the birth of your child. Also, you'll need to submit a demand package with an outline of the people you consider to be defendants. A knowledgeable attorney can assist you in identifying proper defendants and make sure there is sufficient insurance coverage. Lawyers can assist in advancing costs related to litigation, including the fees of highly qualified medical experts. This can help ease some of the financial stress that comes with litigating a birth injury claim.