Birth Injury Compensation

It can be a devastating experience If your child suffers a birth injury due to negligence by a doctor. These injuries often require lifetime treatment and care, leaving you with massive financial burdens.

Many birth injuries cases involve a tense debate about medical malpractice versus medical errors. Our lawyers can help you to understand the distinctions.

Costs of Treatment

Insurance companies, attorneys, and judges take into account the severity of the birth injury as well as the impact it affects the child's quality of life in determining the amount compensation to be awarded. If a child requires extensive medical treatment which continues over time, the value of the claim will increase.

Medical treatment for birth injuries can be very expensive. Compensation for birth injuries could help families cover these costs. Lawyers often collaborate with experts to put together an "Life Care Plan" which calculates the lifetime costs incurred by a child's injury. These costs include hospitalization, surgery, medical treatments and prescriptions, home improvements and equipment, among others.

Your legal team will gather medical records from the pregnancy as well as the birth of your child, in addition to firsthand accounts from family members. These records will be used to prove that your child was injured as a result of medical malpractice, and to show the extent of the injury.

Many states have enacted medical indemnity funds to provide financial assistance to families of children who suffer from birth injuries. These funds can either collect part of malpractice insurance premiums, or require hospitals and doctors to contribute to a resource pool. In addition to providing monetary assistance, these programs could also decrease the necessity for families to bring a lawsuit. However, JLARC staff found that these programs don't always meet their objectives and need to be improved.

Life Care Planning

Children who suffer from conditions like cerebral palsy and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy will have permanent medical requirements. These needs include physical therapy, special equipment, and home health care. These costs can be substantial.

A life-care plan is a document that establishes the future medical, educational, in-home and other expenses disabled children will have to pay throughout his or his or her life. These plans are used to calculate the financial portion awarded in a case of birth injury. These plans should be thorough and carefully written in order to satisfy the strict requirements of admissibility.

Life-care planning experts can assist in the creation of these documents using input and formal opinions from a disabled child's doctors or therapists as well as caregivers. The plans include a comprehensive account of the injury and the diagnosis. They describe the underlying causes of the disability and the long-term consequences.

A medical malpractice lawyer should collaborate with a life-care planner to develop the most effective strategy for their client's particular situation. The goal of the plan is to ensure that your child is provided with adequate compensation to cover the cost of all of his or her future medical expenses and care. The funds are usually put in a trust to cover special needs, and is overseen by an approved administrator. Typically the amount allotted will be re-adjusted periodically to meet changes in your child's needs.

Pain and Suffering

In cases involving birth injuries and damages are awarded to compensate the plaintiff for the past and future discomfort and pain. This includes physical and mental distress from the injury, and the inability to participate in activities that are enjoyed by other people.

You may also be able to recover lost income if a victim's injury limits their options professionally or prevents them working at all. In addition, families can be compensated if they are needed to take care of an injured child.

Medical malpractice cases usually have very high verdicts, since juries tend to show sympathy for victims and hold doctors accountable for their errors. Many doctors and hospitals settle rather than risk a trial that is expensive and stressful for all involved.

Both sides will gather evidence to prove their arguments during the trial. They will exchange documents during a process called discovery, which includes taking testimony from witnesses under the oath. The defendants may also ask to examine the medical records of a plaintiff which is permitted in all states.

A successful birth injury lawsuit requires a skilled lawyer in these kinds of cases. An experienced lawyer will examine the facts of your case, determine if it is in line with the legal requirements and seek out the most favorable financial settlement you can get.

Punitive Damages

Certain medical malpractice lawsuits contain punitive damages awards, that are intended as a stern warning to discourage future negligence. They are awarded in instances of serious negligence or where there was intentional misconduct on the part the medical professional. However, they are very rare in cases of birth injuries.

After identifying the defendants the attorney must collect and analyze the evidence to support the claim. They must show that the injuries sustained by medical professionals were not at a high level of care. The legal team must be able to prove the loss that was caused with the injuries, also known as "damages." These damages could be economic or non-economic.

Economic losses are typically calculated by making estimates of the cost of the child's ongoing care, which includes long-term care facilities as well as other services. They could also include lost earnings if a traumatic event caused one or both parents to lose their job.

The legal team will prepare an offer package that they will present to the malpractice insurance companies. This document will detail the birth injuries and their effects on the child and the family, and demand compensation for these losses. The attorneys will negotiate with medical professionals until an agreement is reached. During this process, the attorneys will discuss their cases with the other side by way of discovery, which may include taking depositions from witnesses who are required to testify under oath.