The 10 Most Scariest Things About Birth Injury Law

Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

The birth injury attorney of a child is a potentially dangerous and stressful experience, however families expect their medical professionals and doctors to adhere to a high standard of medical care. If they fail to do so, birth injuries can be devastating for families.

If you suspect your child has suffered a preventable birth injury due to medical negligence, contact a birth injury lawyer for assistance. The most reputable lawyers will review your case with no upfront fees. In order to prove your claim, you have to prove the four elements.

Duty of Care

Few events in life are more joyful and memorable than the birth of a child. Unfortunately, the birth process can be traumatic for parents when medical errors cause severe injuries to their baby during birth and labor. These errors could be irreparable and cause an entire series of problems for a family.

Medical professionals and doctors are under an obligation under law to treat their patients with the same respect and competence that is expected from health care providers in similar professions in similar circumstances. This is known as the duty of care. To prevail in a lawsuit against a healthcare provider at fault you must prove that the medical professional breached this obligation. This typically involves proving that the medical professional's actions or failure to act in a manner that was not consistent with what a reasonably trained and competent medical professional would have done under similar circumstances.

The third element of a negligence claim is the causation. You must prove with medical records and testimony from an expert that the healthcare provider in question's breach of duty led to your child's injuries. For instance, a healthcare professional may have failed to monitor your child's vital indicators during labor and birth. This could have caused brain damage due to the prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Damages are the last component in a successful negligence case. You must prove that either you or your child suffered actual and quantifiable loss as a result of the healthcare professional's failure to perform their duty of care. This includes past and future medical expenses, lost wages, as well as other damages like discomfort and pain.

Causation

Medical professionals have a responsibility to their patients to offer care that is in line with standards in their field. If a doctor or nurse fails to meet this standard of care, it could cause injury to a patient, and lead to a claim for damages. To prevail in a birth injury case, an attorney must prove that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This can be proven through evidence, including medical documents or expert testimony.

It is also necessary to prove that your child wouldn't have suffered the injury in the event that the medical professional met the expected standard of treatment. Medical experts are asked to review the case to determine if the doctor or hospital behaved in a way that was not in accordance with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can alter the course of your child's life and require medical treatment for the rest of their lives. It is important that you hold hospitals and doctors accountable for their mistakes, and receive compensation to pay for the future needs of your child.

A lawyer who has handled medical malpractice cases has the ability to manage the entire legal process, including responding to insurance inquiries and bringing a lawsuit against the accountable parties. They can also construct a case based on evidence, secure expert testimony, retrieve documents and medical records and advocate for fair settlements to cover family's life-long care costs and losses.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who review medical records, testimony from you and your family and other evidence. They will assist you in proving that the hospital or doctor involved in your case violated their duty of care and caused your child injuries. They will also estimate the damages you've suffered due to these injuries. Included are 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 tragedy for your family if nurses, doctors and other medical staff commit preventable mistakes before, during or after the birth of your child. It can be also difficult to initiate legal action against the doctors and hospitals who may have committed negligence or malpractice. They typically have their own legal teams working full-time to protect clients and deny claims, or reduce settlement amounts.

If you hire an New York birth injury lawyer who can hold the at-fault medical professionals accountable. Your attorney will handle communications with insurance companies and file your claim in court, and build solid evidence-based arguments to establish liability. They will also fight to secure you an equitable settlement or verdict from a jury for your losses and lifetime cost of care. They may also file a lawsuit in time for any applicable statute of limitation in the event that the clock begins to tick from the date the malpractice or medical error occurred.

Statute of Limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury case includes four parts. Your lawyer can explain each one and build a strong legal argument in support of your claim.

Medical negligence claims require that you prove that the defendant had the duty of care towards your child, and that the defendant violated that duty, and that this breach led to the injuries to your child. For a claim to succeed it is essential to prove causation which means that the injuries suffered by your child would not have occurred if it weren't for the actions of the defendant (or the failure to act).

The defendants have the option of challenging any of these elements. They may argue that you don't have a doctor-patient relationship, or that the standards of care are different from what you claim it to be. They may also challenge your evidence or the opinions of your expert witnesses.

You'll need to submit medical records, other documentation along with an explanation of what happened during the birth of your child. You will also need to submit a demand packet that includes an inventory of the parties you think should be named as defendants. An experienced attorney can assist you in identifying the correct defendants and make sure that there is adequate insurance coverage. A lawyer can assist with costs associated with litigation, like the fees of highly qualified medical experts. This can help reduce some of the financial burden that comes with litigating a claim for birth injury.