Birth Injury Compensation
If your child has a birth injury due to the negligence of a doctor or an unjust decision, it could be devastating. These injuries can require lifelong treatment and care. You'll be faced with massive financial burdens.
Many birth injury cases also involve a tense debate about medical errors versus malpractice. Our lawyers can clarify the distinctions.
Costs of Treatment
In determining the amount to award for a birth injury, insurance companies attorneys and judges consider the degree of the injury as well as its impact on the child's life quality. For instance, if a child requires extensive ongoing medical treatment it will increase the value of an claim.
Medical treatment for birth injuries can be very expensive. Compensation for
birth injury attorney injuries could help families cover these costs. Lawyers and experts often collaborate to develop an "Life Care Plan" that calculates the costs of a child's injury over the course of their lives. These costs include hospitalization, surgeries, specialized medical treatments and prescriptions, home improvements and equipment, etc.
Your legal team will gather medical records from the time of pregnancy and birth of your child, as well as firsthand accounts from relatives. These documents will be used to prove that your child was injured as a result of medical malpractice and to prove the extent of the injury.
Many states have enacted medical indemnity funds to provide financial assistance to families of children who suffer from birth injuries. These funds collect a portion of the malpractice insurance premiums or require doctors and hospitals to contribute to the pool of resources. In addition to providing financial aid, these programs can also reduce the need for families to make a claim. However, JLARC staff found that these programs don't always achieve their goals and could be improved.
Life Care Planning
Children with conditions like cerebral palsy and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy are likely to have permanent medical requirements. These needs include physical therapies as well as specialized equipment and home health treatment. These costs can be significant.
A life-care planning plan is an outline of the future medical, educational home, and other expenditures a child with disabilities will endure throughout their lifetime. These plans are typically utilized to calculate the economic component of damages in a case of
birth injury. They should be comprehensive and carefully drafted to meet the strict requirements for evidence the admissibility of the plan in the court.
Experts in planning for life can help develop these documents using input and the formal opinions of a child with disabilities' doctors or therapists, as well as the caregivers. The plans also include an extensive description of the injury that caused it and its diagnosis. They outline the root causes of the impairment as well as the long-term effects.
A medical malpractice lawyer should work with a life-care planner to come up with the best plan for their client's specific situation. The plan's purpose is to ensure that your child receives adequate compensation to cover all future expenses and medical care. The money awarded is typically put into a special needs trust managed by an approved administrator. Typically, the amount of funds awarded will be adjusted periodically to reflect changes in your child's requirements.
Pain and Suffering
In a case involving a
birth injury lawsuits injury, damages are awarded for the plaintiff's past as well as future suffering and pain. This includes physical and mental discomfort caused by the injury, as also the inability to engage in activities that others can participate in.
You can also recover lost income when a victim's injury limits their options professionally or prevents them from working at all. Additionally, families could be compensated if they are required to provide care for the child who is injured.
Medical malpractice cases often receive very high verdicts due to the fact that juries tend to show compassion for the victims and hold doctors accountable for errors. Many hospitals and doctors settle rather than risk an expensive trial and stressful for all involved.
Both sides will collect evidence to support their arguments during the trial. They will exchange documents in the course of discovery, which involves the deposition of witnesses to obtain statements under oath. In most states, defendants can ask to see the records of the plaintiff.
A successful birth injury lawsuit requires a lawyer with experience in these kinds of cases. An experienced lawyer will examine the details of your case, determine if it meets the specifications for a lawsuit and work to secure the best financial settlement possible.
Punitive Damages
Certain medical malpractice lawsuits also include punitive damages, intended to serve as a warning and discourage future negligence. They can be awarded in cases that involve grave negligence or when there was negligence on the part of the doctor. They are uncommon in the case of birth injuries.
After the attorney has identified the appropriate defendants, they have to find and analyze evidence to back up their claims. They must show that the injuries caused by medical professionals failed to meet an acceptable standard of care. The legal team is also required to provide evidence of the damages resulting from these injuries, also known as "damages." This information can be economic or non-economic in the sense that it is not a loss.
Economic losses are usually calculated by estimating the cost of the child's ongoing treatment, including long-term care facilities and other services. They may also include lost earnings if a traumatic event resulted in both parents to lose their job.
The legal team will prepare a demand package to be presented to the malpractice insurance companies. The document will explain the birth injury and the impact it has on the child's and family in order to seek compensation to cover the cost of these loss. The attorneys will negotiate until a settlement is reached with the medical providers. During the discovery process, lawyers will share information with the other party about their cases. This may include taking depositions of witnesses who are required to testify under oath.