birth injury litigation Injury Compensation
It could be devastating when your child suffers birth injury as a result of an error by a medical professional. These injuries usually require lifelong treatment and birth injury case care, leaving you with immense financial burdens.
Many birth injury cases have a complicated debate about medical malpractice versus medical errors. Our attorneys can explain the distinctions.
Costs of Treatment
Insurance companies, attorneys and judges look at the severity of the birth injury compensation injury as well as the impact it has on the child’s life in determining the amount of compensation to be awarded. If a child needs extensive medical treatment that lasts over time the value of the claim will rise.
The medical treatment for birth injury lawyers injuries can be costly. Compensation for birth injuries can aid families in covering these costs. Lawyers and experts often collaborate to create a «Life Care Plan» that calculates the costs of a child’s injuries over the course of his or her life. These expenses include hospitalization, surgeries, specialized medical treatments such as prescriptions, home repairs and equipment, etc.
Your legal team will gather medical records from the time of your child’s birth and pregnancy and also firsthand stories from family members. They will be used to show that your child suffered an injury as a result of negligence by a medical professional, and to demonstrate the extent of the harm caused.
Many states have established medical indemnity funds which provide financial aid to families of children who have suffered birth injuries. These funds take a percentage of malpractice insurance premiums, or require doctors and hospitals to contribute to the pool of resources. In addition to providing monetary support, these programs can also help reduce the requirement for families to pursue a lawsuit. However, JLARC staff found that these programs don’t always meet their goals and need to be improved.
Life Care Planning
Children who suffer from conditions like cerebral palsy and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy are likely to have lifelong medical needs. These requirements include physical therapy as well as specialized equipment and home health treatment. These costs can be substantial.
A life-care plan is a document that specifies the future medical education, home-based, and other costs that disabled children will have to pay throughout his or her life. These plans are commonly used to determine the financial portion of damages awarded in a case of birth injury case injury. They should be comprehensive and meticulously drafted to meet the strict evidentiary requirements for legal admissibility in court.
Life-care planning experts can assist in the creation of these documents using feedback and formal opinions from the child’s doctors, therapists and caregivers. The plans include a detailed description of the initial injury and its diagnosis. They explain the underlying causes of the disability as well as its long-term effects.
A medical malpractice lawyer should collaborate with a planner for life to come up with the best plan for their client’s specific situation. The goal of the plan is to ensure that your child receives the proper compensation to cover the cost of all of their future expenses and medical care. The funds are usually put into a trust for children with special requirements, which is managed by an administrator approved by the trustee. Typically, the amount of funds granted will be adjusted over time to meet any changes in your child’s needs.
Suffering and Pain
In a birth injury case, damages are awarded for the plaintiff’s future and past suffering and pain. This includes physical and mental suffering from the injury and also an inability to engage in activities that are enjoyed by others.
It is also possible to recover income if an injury restricts their career options or prevents them from working at all. Additionally, families could be compensated if required to help care for an injured child.
Medical malpractice claims often have very high verdicts due to the fact that juries tend to show compassion for the victims and hold doctors accountable for their mistakes. Many doctors and hospitals prefer to settle rather than risk a trial that is expensive and stressful for all parties involved.
During the lawsuit lawyers from both sides will collect evidence to prove their points. They will share documents in the course of discovery, which includes deposing witnesses to get statements under oath. The defendants can also ask to examine the medical records of a plaintiff as it is legal in most states.
A successful birth injury lawyer injury claim requires a lawyer with experience in these kinds of cases. A seasoned attorney will analyze your case to determine whether you have a valid lawsuit and will work to achieve the highest settlement.
Punitive Damages
Certain medical malpractice lawsuits include punitive damage awards that are intended as a stern warning to discourage future negligence. They may be granted in cases of grave negligence or when there was malice on the part of the medical professional. However, they are not common in birth injury cases.
After the attorney has identified the proper defendants, they must gather and analyze evidence to support their assertions. They must demonstrate that the injuries caused by the medical professionals were not up to standards of care. The legal team must also show evidence of the losses that are associated with the injuries, referred to as «damages.» These damages could be economic or non-economic.
Economic losses are calculated by the estimation of ongoing treatment costs, which includes long-term facilities as well as other services. They can also include loss of earnings in the event that the injury caused one or both parents to quit their jobs.
The legal team will create a demand document to be presented to the malpractice insurers. The document will explain the birth injuries and their effect on the child and the family, and demand compensation for the loss. The attorneys will negotiate until a settlement has been reached with the medical providers. During the discovery process, lawyers will share information with the other party about their case. This includes depositions of witnesses that testify on oath.