Birth Injury Lawsuits Explained
Families expect that their medical professionals and doctors will provide a high standard of care. If they don't, birth injuries can be devastating to families.
Contact a
birth injury lawyer to get help if you suspect that your child has suffered an injury that could be prevented during birth due medical malpractice. Reputable
lawyers will evaluate your case for free and will not charge 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 exciting and significant events in the life of a person. Unfortunately, the process can turn traumatic for parents when medical errors result in serious injuries to the baby during the labor and delivery. These mistakes can be irreversible and cause a family to endure a lifetime of difficulties.
Doctors and medical professionals have the legal obligation of treating their patients with the same attention and skill that is expected from health professionals of similar professions under similar circumstances. This is known as the duty of care. To win a claim against a healthcare provider who is at fault you must show that the medical professional breached this duty. This typically means proving that the medical professional's actions or inability to act deviated from what a reasonably trained and competent medical professional would have done under similar circumstances.
The second component in a negligence case is causation. You must prove, through medical documents and expert testimony that the at-fault healthcare professional's negligence led to the injury of your child. For instance, a physician might not have been able to observe your child's vital indicators during labor and birth. This could have resulted in prolonged oxygen deprivation, which then led to brain damage.
Damages are the final component in a successful negligence case. You must demonstrate that you and your child suffered actual, quantifiable financial losses resulting from the healthcare professional's failure to perform their duty of care. This typically includes past and future medical expenses, lost wages and other non-economic losses such as suffering and pain.
Causation
Medical professionals are obligated to patients to provide treatment that is in line with the standards of medical care in their field of. A nurse or doctor who fails to meet the standards of care could cause injuries to patients, and may result in a claim for damages. In order to succeed in a case involving birth injuries, a lawyer must prove that the breach in duty caused your child's injury. This has to be proved by evidence such as medical documents and expert testimony.
It is also crucial to prove that your child wouldn't be injured even if a medical professional been able to provide the level of care expected. Medical experts are required review the case in order to determine if a doctor or hospital acted in a manner not in line with the accepted medical standards.
Birth injuries can be life-changing and require medical treatment for the rest of your life. It is crucial to make hospitals and doctors accountable for their mistakes, and receive compensation to cover the future needs of your child.
A lawyer who has handled medical malpractice cases is able to manage the entire legal process, including responding to insurance inquiries and filing a suit against the accountable parties. They can also develop an evidence-based case and secure expert testimony, recover medical records and other documents and negotiate a fair settlement that covers your family's losses and lifetime costs of care.
Damages
Medical experts are required to scrutinize medical records, evidence from you and your family members, and other evidence in the birth injury lawsuit. They will help establish that the doctor involved in your case acted outside of their duty of take care of your child and caused harm to your child. They will then determine the damages you've suffered because of these injuries. This includes your current and future medical expenses and lost wages, loss in quality of life, emotional distress, and other losses.
When nurses, doctors, or other medical staff commit preventable errors before, during, or after the birth of your child, it can have devastating effects for your family. It isn't easy to bring legal action against doctors and hospitals that have acted negligently or with a lack of care. They usually have their own teams of lawyers working full-time to protect their clients and deny claims or reduce settlement amounts.
When you employ an New York birth injury lawyer, you can hold medical professionals responsible for your injuries. The lawyer will negotiate with the insurance companies and then file a claim in court and build a solid argument based on evidence to establish liability. They will also fight to secure you a fair settlement or verdict from a jury for your losses and lifetime care costs. They may also file a lawsuit in time for any applicable statute of limitation when the clock begins to tick from the date the medical malpractice or negligence occurred.
Statute of Limitations
Four essential elements are required for a successful claim for compensation if
birth injuries occur. Your lawyer can explain each of them and develop a solid legal argument in support of your claim.
Medical negligence claims require you to demonstrate that the defendant was under an obligation of care for your child, that the defendant violated that duty, and that this breach led to the injuries to your child. In order for a claim to be successful it is crucial that you establish 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).
Defendants can challenge each of these elements. They may argue that there is no doctor-patient relationship, or that the standard of care is not what you claim it is. Additionally, they could challenge your evidence and your expert witnesses or their opinions.
You'll need to submit medical records, as well as other evidence along with an explanation of what was wrong with the birth of your child. You'll also need to submit the demand package, which includes a list of all parties you consider to be defendants. A skilled attorney can assist you in identifying correct defendants and make sure that there is enough insurance coverage. Lawyers can also help in advancing the costs associated with litigation like the cost of highly qualified medical experts. This helps ease some of the financial strain that comes with pursuing a birth injury claim.