Birth-Related Trauma and Filing a Claim?
Birth-related trauma can not only lead to a lifetime of issues for your child, but it can also result in numerous needs, services, and treatments that can cause extensive financial hardships for the whole family. However, if you went through this devastating situation, it is crucial to understand your legal options, including how to hold the wrongful party accountable for the losses and harm your family endured and how to recover compensation to help your child with their ongoing needs.
To know which damages you can pursue following a birth-related injury, discuss the situation with a skilled birth injury lawyer, who can go over the losses you and your child suffered and help you fight for the maximum compensation you are entitled to.
Liability Following Birth-Related Trauma
Unfortunately, not every birth-related injury will allow you to pursue legal action for the injuries and losses involved. Instead, if you want to establish liability following a birth injury, you need to show that your baby’s injuries were caused by a medical care professional’s negligence or carelessness.
To prove this, you need a lawyer who can establish:
- Accepted standards of care in the medical industry apply tpo the services or treatment being provided.
- The doctor or medical care worker breached these medical standards of care.
- The doctor’s actions directly caused harm to the baby or the mother.
If you establish those element, you may pursue a birth-related medical malpractice lawsuit against the medical care provider that caused your baby harm. You may also bring legal action against the hospital that was involved. However, to better understand these options consider discussing your case with an experienced birth injury attorney as soon as you can. Your lawyers can determine whether you have a viable case and your best legal course of action.
Filing a Claim Following Birth-Related Trauma
While the specific process of your birth-related trauma legal claim will depend on the circumstances, most lawsuits tend to follow the same process and include these steps:
Try to Obtain Compensation Before Trial
When you work with a birth injury lawyer, these legal professionals may ask the liable party for financial recovery for the harm and losses they caused your baby and family.
To do this, the attorney will send a demand letter explaining why you believe the healthcare professional caused the birth injury and how much compensation your child will need due to these injuries. If the professional agrees to these terms, you can receive financial damages without filing a lawsuit. However, if the healthcare professional refuses to pay this amount, you will have to continue with the legal process.
The Attorney Builds Your Case
If the demand letter is rejected, your attorney can start preparing your case.
This will involve them gathering critical information regarding:
- Who caused the birth injury?
- Where and how did the incident occur?
- Could the child’s birth injury have been prevented?
By gathering this evidence, your attorney can better understand the strengths of your case and the arguments they need to make to establish liability and the extent of the damages involved.
Pursue a Lawsuit
Your attorney will then file the necessary documents and motions to begin the lawsuit process. During this point, both sides will continue to gather evidence to help their cases, such as depositions, medical documents, and other related evidence. Your birth injury lawyer will need this evidence to establish that the healthcare professional did not uphold the appropriate standard of care.
Try to Settle
Once both sides have their cases prepared, they may meet to discuss settling the case. A settlement will allow you to obtain the financial compensation you need and can help resolve the dispute. However, if both sides cannot agree, then the case will move on to the trial phase.
Trial
During the trial phase, the court will hear both sides’ arguments and decide on the legal claim. This whole process can take anywhere from months to years to resolve, and appeals can extend the timeline even further.
The Types of Financial Damages You Can Pursue
Damages following a birth-related trauma can include payment for:
- Medical bills related to hospitalization, doctor visits, specialists, surgeries, prescription medications, diagnostic tests, and other medical expenses
- Nursing care
- Assistive equipment such as braces, hearing aids, or wheelchairs
- Physical therapy, as well as occupational therapy
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Emotional anguish, pain and suffering, and other types of emotional distress
- Physical rehabilitation
- Specialized needs, such as education services
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Other types of losses
Depending on the circumstances, the court may also award punitive damages if the defendant acted wantonly, willfully, maliciously, or with bad faith or with a conscious indifference to the potential consequences of their actions or inactions.
Contact an Experienced Birth-Related Injury Attorney for a Free Case Evaluation
If a healthcare worker’s wrongful actions harmed your child, do not deal with these devastating repercussions alone. Instead, fight back and pursue the compensation your baby needs for the help and treatment they require. That is why following a birth-related injury, contact an experienced birth-related injury attorney as soon as possible.
Once hired, your lawyers can:
- Determine if you have a viable legal claim and the legal actions you can take next.
- Bring in the experts that can help validate your legal claim, such as other medical experts and specialists.
- File your legal motions and documents before the statute of limitations expires.
- Help you fight for a just settlement offer.
- Pursue maximum compensation by proceeding to trial if the other side is unwilling to settle your case for a fair amount.
For further information regarding these legal options and how a birth-related injury lawyer can help you, contact an attorneys today for a free case consultation and learn how these legal professionals can help you fight for the justice your child deserves.