Why All The Fuss About Birth Injury Case
Birth Injury Compensation
If your child suffers a birth injury as a result of a doctor's negligence or wrongful decision, it could be devastating. These injuries are often life-long treatment and care, leaving you with massive financial burdens.
Many birth injuries cases require a lengthy debate on medical malpractice versus medical errors. Our lawyers can help you understand the differences.
Costs of Treatment
Attorneys, insurance companies, and judges consider the severity of the birth injury as well as the impact it has on the child's development when determining the amount of compensation to be paid. If a child requires extensive medical treatment that continues over time the value of the claim will increase.
Medical treatment for birth injuries can be very expensive. Compensation for birth injuries could assist families with these costs. Lawyers and experts frequently collaborate to create a "Life Care Plan" that calculates the costs of a child’s injury over a lifetime. These include hospitalization expenses including surgical interventions, specialized medical treatment, prescriptions, home renovations and equipment, and more.
Your legal team will gather medical records from your child's birth and pregnancy as well as personal reports from family members. These records will be used to prove that your child was injured as a result of medical malpractice and to demonstrate the extent to which the injury occurred.
Many states have passed medical indemnity funds in order to provide financial support to families of children who suffer from birth injuries. These funds may either take part of malpractice insurance premiums, or require doctors and hospital to contribute to a resource pool. These programs can provide families with financial support and lessen the need to file a lawsuit. JLARC staff, however, found that these programs didn't always meet their objectives and could be improved.
Life Care Planning
Children suffering from conditions like cerebral palsy or hypoxic ischephalopathy will require medical attention for the rest of their lives. These include physical therapy, special equipment and home health. Often, these costs can be quite substantial.
A life-care planning document is one that lists the future medical, education home, and other expenses a child with disabilities will incur throughout his or her lifetime. These plans are used to calculate the financial portion of a settlement in the case of birth injury. They must be thorough and carefully drafted to meet the strict evidentiary requirements for admission in court.
Life-care planning experts can assist to develop these documents with input and formal opinions from the child's doctor as well as therapists and other caregivers. The plans also contain an in-depth description of the injury that caused it and its diagnosis. They also explain the root cause of the disability and the long-term consequences.
An attorney for medical malpractice should collaborate with a planner for life to come up with the best plan for their client's situation. The plan's purpose is to ensure your child receives enough compensation to cover all of their future expenses and care. The money is usually put into a special needs trust which is administered by an approved administrator. The amount of money given is usually adjusted annually to reflect the changing needs of your child.
Pain and Suffering
In cases involving birth injuries, damages are awarded to compensate the plaintiff for future and past pain and discomfort. This includes physical and mental pain caused by the injury as well as the inability to engage in activities that others could be able to do.
It is also possible to recover income if an injury limits their options professionally or birth injuries stops them from working at all. Families can also be compensated for the care and treatment of an injured child.
Medical malpractice cases typically have very high verdicts, since juries tend to show sympathy for victims and hold doctors accountable for errors. Due to this, many doctors and hospitals prefer to settle instead of taking on an appeal, which can be expensive and stressful for the parties involved.
During the trial lawyers on both sides will collect evidence to back their arguments. They will share documents in a process called discovery, which includes deposing witnesses to obtain their statements under an oath. The defendants can also ask to look over the medical records of the plaintiff, which is legal in most states.
An attorney with experience in this kind of case is required to file a successful claim for birth injury lawsuit injury. A knowledgeable attorney will examine your case to determine whether you have a valid lawsuit and work to obtain the most favorable settlement.
Punitive Damages
Some medical malpractice lawsuits include punitive damages. These are meant to communicate a message and prevent future negligence. They may be granted in cases of serious negligence or where there was intentional misconduct on the part the doctor. However, they are rare in cases of birth injuries.
After identifying the defendants the attorney needs to gather and examine the evidence to back the claim. They must prove that the injuries caused by medical professionals did not meet standards of care. The legal team is also required to prove the financial losses resulting from these injuries, also known as "damages." The information can be economic or non-economic in the sense that it is not a loss.
Economic losses are calculated by estimating ongoing treatment costs, including long-term treatment facilities and other services. It is also possible to include losses in earnings if the accident caused one or both parents to quit their jobs.
The legal team will then prepare a demand letter for the malpractice carriers. The document will explain the birth injury lawyers injuries, and their impact on the child as well as the family, and request compensation for the losses. The lawyers will negotiate with medical professionals until a settlement is reached. During the discovery process, lawyers will exchange information with the other party on their case. This may include depositions of witnesses that take oath testimony.