Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained
Birth is a dangerous and stressful event, but families expect their medical professionals and doctors to provide a high level of medical care. Birth injuries can be devastating for families when they're not treated appropriately.
If you suspect your child suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence or birth injuries, you should contact a
birth injury lawyer for help. Reputable attorneys will evaluate your case without charging any upfront fees. In order to prove your claim, you have to prove the four elements.
Duty of Care
Birth of a baby is one of the most joyful and significant events in the life of a person. Unfortunately, the process can turn traumatic for parents if medical errors cause serious injuries to the baby during labor and birth. These mistakes can be irreparable and create a lifetime of challenges for the entire family.
Medical professionals and doctors have a legal obligation to treat patients with the care and skill that is normally expected of health professionals in their field in similar situations. This is referred to as the duty of care. If you want to prevail against a healthcare provider at fault, you must prove that the medical professional violated this obligation. This typically means proving that the medical professional's actions or inability to act deviated from what a reasonably educated and competent medical professional would have done under the same 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 professional who was at fault's negligence caused your child's injuries. A doctor, for instance 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 the most important part of a successful negligence case. You must demonstrate that you and your child suffered actual tangible financial losses that resulted from the at-fault healthcare professional's failure to meet their duty of care. This usually includes past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and other non-economic losses such as suffering and pain.
Causation
Medical professionals are required to their patients to provide them with care that is in accordance with standards of their area of expertise. A doctor or nurse who does not meet the standards of care could cause injuries to patients, and may result in an action for damages. To succeed in a case involving birth injuries, a lawyer will need to prove the breach of duty led to your child's injury. This must be proved using evidence like medical documents and expert testimony.
It is also essential to prove that your child would not have suffered a traumatic injury in the event that a medical professional performed the treatment expected. Medical experts are asked review the case in order to determine if the physician or the hospital behaved in a way that was not in accordance with the accepted medical standards.
Birth injuries can alter the course of your child's life and require medical attention for a lifetime. It is crucial to make hospitals and doctors accountable for their negligence and seek compensation to cover the future requirements of your child.
A lawyer with experience in handling medical malpractice cases can oversee the entire legal process for you, including responding to insurer requests and bringing a lawsuit against the responsible parties. They can also build an evidence-based case and get expert testimony, retrieve medical records and other documents and negotiate a fair settlement to cover the losses of your family and continue to pay for care costs.
Damages
Medical experts are required to scrutinize medical records, the testimony of you and your family members, and other evidence in the birth injury lawsuit. They will assist you in proving that the hospital or doctor involved in your case breached their duty of care and caused your child injuries. They will then estimate the damage you've sustained as a result of these injuries. Included are your current and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of quality of your life emotional distress and other losses.
It can be devastating for your family members when doctors, nurses and other medical personnel make inexcusable mistakes prior to, during or after the birth your child. It isn't easy to bring legal action against hospitals and doctors who may have committed malpractice or negligence. They usually have their own legal teams who are full-time employed to protect their clients and defend against claims or reduce settlement amounts.
If you hire a New York birth injury lawyer who can hold the medical professionals responsible for your injuries. Your attorney will handle communications with insurance companies and then present your claim in court, and build an evidence-based argument to establish responsibility. They will also fight for you to get an equitable jury verdict, or settlement for your damages and costs over the course of your lifetime. They may also bring a lawsuit within the timeframe for any applicable statute of limitation when the clock begins to run from the date the malpractice or medical error occurred.
Statute of Limitations
A successful claim for compensation in a birth-related injury case involves four elements. Your attorney can explain each element and develop a solid legal argument to support your claim.
Medical negligence claims rely on proving that the defendant owed you an obligation of care, that the defendant breached this duty, and that the breach directly led to your child's injuries. To prove a claim it is also necessary that you establish causation, which means that the injuries suffered by your child would not have happened if not for the defendant's actions (or failure to act).
Defense attorneys can challenge any of these elements. They can argue that you haven't established a doctor-patient connection or that the standards of care are different than what you assert it to be. They can also contest your evidence and expert witnesses and their opinions.
In order to prove a breach of duty, you'll need submit medical records as well as other documentation, and provide a statement that explains what went wrong in the birth of your child. You'll also need to submit an application package that includes an inventory of all the parties you consider to be defendants. A knowledgeable attorney can help you identify the correct defendants and make sure that they have adequate insurance coverage. A lawyer can also help with the advancement of litigation-related costs such as the cost of highly qualified medical experts. This can help to reduce some of the financial burden associated with litigating claims for birth injuries.