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Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained

The birth of a child is a potentially dangerous and stressful time, but families expect their medical professionals and doctors to ensure a high quality of care. If they don’t, birth injury law firms injuries can be devastating for families.

If you suspect your child was born with a preventable injury due to medical negligence or birth injuries, you should contact a birth injury lawyer to get help. A reputable lawyer will review your case free of charge and charge no upfront costs. A successful claim is based on the evidence of the four elements of your case.

Duty of Care

Few events in life are more memorable and special than the birth of a child. Unfortunately, this birthing process can become traumatic for parents if medical errors result in serious injuries to their infant during the birth process and during labor. These errors can be irreparable and make a family confront a long list of challenges.

Medical professionals and doctors have an obligation under law to treat their patients with the same care and competence that is expected from health care professionals of similar professions in similar circumstances. This is called the duty of care. If you want to prevail 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 inability to act in a manner that was not consistent with what a reasonably educated and competent medical professional would have done in the same circumstances.

The third element in a negligence case is causation. You must prove via medical records and testimony from an expert that the healthcare provider who was at fault’s negligence led to your child’s injuries. For instance, a healthcare professional may not have observed your child’s vital indicators during labor and birth. This could have resulted in brain damage due to prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Damages are the most important component in a successful negligence case. You must prove that you and/or your child suffered real significant, quantifiable damages as a result of the healthcare professional’s negligence in their duty to care. This typically includes past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and non-economic losses like pain and suffering.

Causation

Medical professionals are obligated to patients to provide treatment in line with the highest standards of care in their specialization. A doctor or nurse who does not meet the standards of care could cause injuries to patients, and result in claims for damages. In order to be successful in a case that involves birth injuries, a lawyer will need to prove the breach in duty caused your child’s injury. This can be proven through evidence, like medical documents or expert testimony.

It is also essential to establish that your child would not have suffered the injury even if the medical professional been able to provide the standard of care. Medical experts are required to examine the case to determine if the doctor or the hospital behaved in a manner that was not consistent with the accepted medical practice.

Birth injuries can have life-altering consequences that require the use of a lifetime of medical treatment and other expenses. It is vital that you make hospitals and doctors accountable for their mistakes and seek compensation to meet the future needs of your child.

A lawyer with experience in handling medical malpractice cases can handle the entire legal procedure for you, including responding to insurer requests and filing an action against the responsible parties. They can also create an argument using evidence, get expert testimony, locate medical records and documents and negotiate fair settlements that cover the family’s lifetime medical costs and expenses.

Damages

Medical experts are needed to review medical records, the testimony of you and your family members and other evidence in the birth injury law firm injury lawsuit. They will help you prove that the hospital or doctor involved in your case violated their duty of care and caused your child to suffer injuries. They will then estimate the damage you’ve sustained as a result of these injuries. These include your current and future medical expenses and lost wages, loss in quality of life, emotional distress, and other losses.

If nurses, doctors, or other medical staff commit mistakes that are not preventable before or during the birth of your child, it could cause devastating harm to your family. It can also be difficult to bring legal action against the hospitals and doctors who could have committed malpractice or negligence. They typically have their own legal teams who are full-time employed to protect their clients and deny claims, or reduce settlement amounts.

By hiring a New York birth injury lawyer, you can hold medical professionals at fault accountable. Your attorney will handle communications with insurers and then make your claim to the court, and construct a strong evidence-based case to prove liability. They will also fight for you to obtain an equitable jury verdict, or settlement for your losses as well as care expenses over your entire life. They can also bring a lawsuit within the timeframe for any applicable statute of limitations in the event that the clock begins to tick from the date the malpractice or negligence occurred.

Statute of limitations

A successful claim for compensation in a birth injury lawsuit is based on four components. Your attorney can explain each of them and develop a solid legal argument in support of your claim.

Medical negligence claims require that you prove that the defendant had an obligation of care for your child, that he breached that duty, and that his breach caused the injuries to your child. To prove a claim it is crucial to prove causation which means that your child’s injuries could not have occurred without the defendant’s actions (or inaction).

Defense attorneys can challenge any of these elements. They may argue that you don’t have a doctor-patient relationship or that the standard of care you provide is different from what you claim it to be. They can also challenge your evidence or the opinions of your expert witnesses.

To prove that you have breached your duty, you’ll need to provide medical records and other documentation, and provide a statement that explains the circumstances that led to the birth of your child. Also, you’ll need provide a demand package which contains the names of the people you believe should be named defendants. A knowledgeable lawyer can help to identify the proper defendants and ensure that there is adequate insurance coverage. A lawyer can assist you in advancing costs related to litigation, including the costs of highly skilled medical experts. This can ease some of the financial stress that comes with pursuing a claim for birth injury.