A Provocative Rant About Birth Injury Law

Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Families expect that their medical doctors and other professionals will ensure a high standard of care. Birth injuries can be devastating for families if they're not treated appropriately.

If you suspect your child suffered a preventable birth injury as a result of medical malpractice and you suspect that your child suffered a birth injury, contact a lawyer to get help. The most reputable lawyers will review your case with no upfront fees. A successful claim will require proving the four elements of your case.

Duty of Care

The birth of a baby is one of the most joyful and memorable moments in a person's life. Unfortunately, this birthing process can be traumatic for parents if medical errors result in serious injuries to their infant during birth and labor. These mistakes can be irreversible and cause a family to face a lifetime of challenges.

Doctors and other medical professionals are legally bound to treat patients with the care and expertise that is expected of health professionals in their field in similar situations. This is called the duty of care. You must prove that a medical professional breached this duty to settle a case. This usually means proving how the medical professional's actions or the lack of them, differed from what a competent and properly trained medical professional would do under similar circumstances.

The second element in a negligence case is the issue of causation. You must show, via medical records and expert testimony, that the at-fault provider's breach of duty caused your child's injury. A doctor, for example might not have supervised your child's vitals during labor and delivery. This could have caused brain damage as a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Damages are the last element in the case of a successful negligence claim. You must prove that you and your child suffered actual significant financial losses, which are quantifiable, resulting from the at-fault medical professional's failure to perform their duty of care. This includes future and past medical expenses such as lost wages, and non-economic losses such as pain and discomfort.

Causation

Medical professionals owe a duty to patients to provide treatment that is in line with the standards of care in their field. If a doctor or nurse fails to meet the standard of care, it can cause an injury to the patient and result in a claim for damages. To win a birth injury lawsuit, an attorney must prove that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This must be proved using evidence such as medical documents and expert testimony.

It is also crucial to prove that your child would not have suffered an injury in the event that a medical professional performed the care that is expected. Medical experts are required to examine the situation and give their opinion as to whether or not the doctor or hospital acted in a way that was not in accordance with accepted medical procedures.

Birth injuries can have a profound impact on your life and require medical care for a lifetime. It is vital that you hold doctors and hospitals accountable for their mistakes, and receive compensation to cover the future needs of your child.

A lawyer experienced in handling medical malpractice cases will manage the entire legal process for you, from responding to insurance requests and filing lawsuits against the responsible parties. They can also create an evidence-based argument and obtain expert testimony, recover medical records and other documents and then fight for a fair settlement that covers the loss of your family as well as lifelong expenses for medical care.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who will look over medical records, witness statements from you and your family, and other evidence. They will prove that the doctor involved in your case has violated their duty to care for your child and causing injuries to your child. Then, they will calculate the damages you have suffered because of those injuries. These include your current and future medical expenses in addition to loss of wages, loss of quality of life, emotional distress and many other losses.

When doctors, nurses, and other medical staff make preventable errors before, during, or after the birth of your child, it could cause devastating harm to your family. It can be also difficult to initiate legal action against the doctors and hospitals who may have committed negligence or malpractice. They usually have their own teams of lawyers working full-time to protect clients and to deny claims or reduce settlement amounts.

If you hire a New York birth injury lawyer who can hold the at-fault medical professionals accountable. The lawyer will negotiate with the insurers and file a claim with the court and develop a solid evidence-based case for establishing the liability. They will also work to secure you an acceptable 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, as the clock begins to tick from the date of the malpractice or medical negligence.

Statute of limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury lawsuit involves four elements. Your attorney can explain each element and develop a solid legal argument in support of your claim.

Medical negligence claims rely on showing that the defendant owed you the obligation of care and that the defendant violated this obligation, and that the breach directly caused the injuries to your child. In order for a claim to be successful it is crucial to prove causation which means that your child's injuries would not have occurred if it weren't for the actions of the defendant (or the failure to act).

The defendants can challenge any of these elements. They can claim that there isn't a doctor-patient relationship, or that the standard of care isn't what you claim it to be. They can challenge your evidence or the opinions of your expert witnesses.

To prove a breach of obligation, you'll need provide medical records and other documents along with a statement that explains what went wrong during the birth of your child. Also, you'll need to submit a demand package with an inventory of all the parties you consider to be defendants. An experienced attorney will assist you in identifying the right defendants and ensure that there is enough insurance coverage. A lawyer can assist you in advancing costs associated with litigation, like the expenses of highly qualified medical experts. This can ease some of the financial stress that comes with pursuing an injury claim arising from birth.