Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

Families expect that their medical professionals and doctors will maintain a high level of care. When they do not birth injuries can be catastrophic to families.

If you suspect your child was born with a preventable injury due to medical negligence then contact a birth trauma lawyer for help. Professionals with a good reputation will assess your case for free and will not charge upfront fees. To prove your claim, you must establish the four elements.

Duty of Care

Birth of a baby is one of the most joyful and significant events in a person's life. Unfortunately, the procedure can be very stressful for parents when medical errors cause serious injuries to the baby during the labor and delivery. These mistakes could be irreparable and create a lifetime of challenges for the family.

Medical professionals and doctors have a legal obligation to treat their patients with the same attention and expertise that is expected from health care professionals of similar professions under similar circumstances. This is called the duty of care. If you want to prevail against an at-fault healthcare provider you must show that the medical professional breached this obligation. This usually involves demonstrating how the medical professional's actions, or lack thereof, differed from what a competent and properly trained medical professional would perform under similar circumstances.

The second aspect of a negligence claim is the causation. You must prove through medical records and evidence from an expert that the healthcare professional who was at fault's negligence led to your child's injuries. A doctor, for example could not have observed your child's vitals during labor and birth. This could have resulted in prolonged oxygen deprivation which, in turn, caused brain damage.

Damages are a crucial part of a successful negligence case. You must prove that you or your child suffered genuine significant, quantifiable damages as a result of the healthcare professional's failure in their duty to care. This usually includes future and past medical expenses, lost wages, and non-economic losses like suffering and pain.

Causation

Medical professionals are required to their patients to provide them with care that is in accordance with standards of their field. A doctor or nurse who fails to meet the standards of care can cause injuries to a patient and result in the possibility of a claim for damages. To prevail in a birth injury lawsuit an attorney must demonstrate that the breach of duty directly led to the injuries suffered by your child. This can be proven through evidence, such as medical records or expert testimony.

It is also essential to establish that your child wouldn't have suffered the injury If the medical professional had met the expected standard of care. Medical experts are obligated to look into the matter and offer their opinions on whether the hospital or doctor performed a procedure that was incompatible with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can have life-altering effects that require a lifetime of medical treatments and other expenses. It is important that you make hospitals and doctors accountable for their negligence, and receive compensation to help pay for the future requirements of your child.

A lawyer who is experienced in handling medical malpractice cases can oversee the entire legal process for you, including responding to insurance requests and filing an action against the accountable parties. They can also construct an argument using evidence, get expert testimony, locate medical records and documents, and fight for fair settlements to pay for the family's life-long care costs and losses.

Damages

A birth injury lawsuit requires the expertise of medical experts who 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. They will then estimate the amount of damage you've suffered due to these injuries. Included are your present and future medical costs in addition to lost wages, loss of quality of your life, emotional distress and other losses.

It can be devastating for your family if nurses, doctors and other medical personnel make unavoidable errors prior to or even after the birth of your child. It can be also difficult to take legal action against the doctors and hospitals who may have acted negligently or erroneously. They often have their own teams of lawyers who are full-time employed to protect their clients and to deny claims or reduce settlement amounts.

When you employ an New York birth injury lawyer who can hold the medical professionals at fault accountable. The lawyer will negotiate with the insurance companies and file a claim with the court, and create a strong evidence-based case to establish the liability. They will also fight to get you a fair settlement or verdict from a jury for your losses as well as lifetime care costs. They can also file your lawsuit in time to satisfy any applicable statute of limitations, as the clock starts ticking from the date of the malpractice or medical negligence.

Statute of limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury lawsuit includes four parts. Your attorney can provide a detailed explanation of each element and create a strong legal argument to support your claim.

Medical negligence claims require you to demonstrate that the defendant was under an obligation of care for your child, and that he violated that duty and that the breach caused the injuries to your child. To be successful in a claim it is crucial that you establish causation, which means that the injuries suffered by your child wouldn't have occurred but for the defendant's actions (or negligence).

The defendants have the option of challenging any of these elements. They could claim that there isn't a doctor-patient connection or that the standard of care is not what you claim it to be. Additionally, they could contest your evidence and expert witnesses opinion.

You'll need medical records, as well as other evidence along with a statement describing what happened during the birth of your child. Also, you'll need submit a demand packet that includes a list of the parties you believe should be named defendants. An experienced attorney can help you identify the right defendants and ensure that there is adequate insurance coverage. Lawyers can assist in advancing litigation-related expenses, for example the expenses of highly qualified medical experts. This can help to reduce some of the financial burden that comes with pursuing a claim for birth injury.