How Your Attorney Can Help You File a Birth Injury Claim
Obtaining financial compensation can alleviate the burden of medical bills, therapy sessions, home and vehicle accommodation, emotional stress, and other damages. It can help your family to get on with their lives, even though it cannot undo any harm.
Legal action can also hold healthcare workers at fault accountable and motivate improved safety training. A qualified birth injury attorney can assist you through the process of litigation.
Proving Negligence
Every year thousands of babies are born with birth injuries that could have been prevented. Many times, medical mistakes and negligence on the part of doctors and other health care practitioners contribute to these injuries. When these mistakes occur they can cause permanent disability and huge financial burdens for families. You and your child may be awarded damages through a lawsuit.
Your lawyer will determine the following aspects when pursuing compensation in a medical malpractice case:
Duty of Care
The defendant must have been liable to you or your child an obligation under law to provide high-quality health treatment. This is typically established by looking at the standard treatment provided in similar circumstances or what a skilled health professional would have done in the same situation.
Breach of Duty
It must be proven that the defendant breached this duty by failing follow the standards of care, which directly led to the injuries to your child. This is typically done through expert testimony or other evidence.
Causation
It is important to establish that the doctor's inability to provide care caused your child's injuries. Causation is the method of proving that. It can be difficult to link a specific action or omission to an injury however, your lawyer will employ medical experts and other sources of evidence to build a strong case for you.
Damages
To be eligible for a settlement, you must demonstrate that your child's birth injury caused economic and non-economic losses. Medical bills, medical records and photographs of the injury are commonly used to demonstrate this. Your attorney can help you determine the amount you are entitled to in damages by formulating the estimated lifetime costs of care for the disability of your child.
Your lawyer can sue your insurance company if they fail to pay or deny an actual claim. Your lawyer can assist you to get the money you need to provide your child with the necessary care for a happy and healthy life.
Establishing Damages
If a medical error made during birth results in permanent injuries to your child, you may have to seek compensation. An attorney can assist you build a case and obtain damages for both your family's current and future loss. They will review your medical records and work with experts to establish the medical standard of care, breach of this standard, causation, and damages.
Medical negligence claims are based on evidence, like detailed medical records that link the treatment you received to your child's injuries. Other evidence may include expert witness testimony, hospital records and policies, eyewitnesses' testimony, and video evidence. The lawyers can also help you collect evidence that pertain to your pregnancy, doctor's appointments and medical procedures.
A medical standard of care is a set of practices that are accepted by an expert group in the field, usually other doctors. Your lawyer will employ experts to look over the medical records of your child and give a formal opinion on whether the medical professional of your child's care adhered to the standard in your case. They will also be able to determine whether the doctor's actions were deviant from the norm and if they directly contributed to the cause of the birth injuries of your child.
You must include all current, past, and future medical costs related to the injuries of your child in calculating the amount you are entitled to. Also, you need to take into account the loss of quality and other non-economic damage. A good way to calculate this is to use a Life Care Plan, which is a document that was created with the assistance of medical and financial specialists to determine your child's needs for the rest of their life.
Insurance companies often settle cases for less money than they are actually worth. Insurance companies can use your emotional state as a way to force you to accept an offer that doesn't fully cover the damages your child has suffered. An attorney can defend your rights and ensure you receive the amount that you deserve for therapy costs, medical bills costs, and lifelong treatment.
Negotiating a Settlement
If a child suffers an injury to their birth due to an unintentional medical error the impact can change the life of a family in a flash. Families are suddenly faced with massive expenses for their child's ongoing care and treatment. A settlement can help ease the burden of a physician's mistake, and give families hope for the future.
A skilled lawyer can make a a huge difference in securing the highest amount of compensation. The most skilled lawyers know how to build solid arguments and negotiate with insurance companies and ensure that you receive the most money you can for your child's needs. The best attorney will be able to take your case all the way to trial, if needed.
The most important step is to hire a lawyer and legal team adept at handling birth injury cases. A quick search on the internet will provide plenty of results and you should review the information provided by every firm, paying close attention to the variety and number of prior birth injury cases as well as the reviews.
After hiring a legal team, your lawyer will request copies of all the relevant medical records. He or she will review the records to identify evidence of malpractice. It is possible to consult with other doctors who will provide their opinions on whether the medical professionals have violated the standards of medical procedure.
Your legal team will then draft a demand letter describing the harm done to your children and the amount you believe their injuries are worth. A demand letter is intended to get the defendants attention and to encourage them to settle out of the courtroom.
If the defendants aren't able to settle, your attorney will prepare for trial by asking for expert witnesses and depositions. Your lawyer will make use of the information collected during discovery to get a jury verdict or negotiate a fair settlement. It is important to be aware, regardless of what happens, defendants' attorneys will fight to reduce the amount in the settlement or verdict.
Filing an action
After gathering and analyzing evidence, your attorney will help to determine the damages you'll need. They will work with medical and financial experts to determine the kinds and amount of damages you'll require depending on your child's present and future requirements. This will include the costs of medical and therapy and emotional distress and loss for your family.
The attorney will then make a claim against the hospital or doctor responsible for your child's birth injury. Based on the circumstances, multiple defendants may be named. This could include the doctor who delivered your child, the nurses who assisted in the delivery and the hospital in which the birth took place. The Summons and Complaint will be delivered to the defendants, and they will be given an opportunity to file a response. The parties will then go through a period of discovery where they exchange information and evidence including testimony of witnesses, medical records, and other documents. This will also include a series of hearings and conferences where both sides may argue their case before a jury or a judge.
Your lawyer will assist you build a solid case of negligence once the lawsuit has been filed. This includes proving that the defendant owed your child and you the duty of care. Particularly, that the defendant was not able to meet the standard of care set by medical professionals in the circumstances. They can prove this by examining medical records and inviting experts to testify on the appropriate standards of care.
Your attorney will also help you establish a causal connection between the breach of duty and the injury to your child. They will rely on the testimony of medical and financial experts to demonstrate that the injuries resulted from the doctor's negligence and that the damages are reasonable.
Then, your attorney will help negotiate the settlement. Settlements are typically the best way to ensure that your child receives the amount they are due without having to go through an appeal.
Compensation is not able to reverse the errors of hospital staff and doctors. However phoenix birth injury attorney can provide for the long-term needs of your child and ease the stress of living with a birth trauma. A legal claim can be used to make healthcare providers accountable for their negligence and to change the ineffective policy of the institution that contributes to medical errors.