Birth Injury Compensation
It can be a devastating experience if your child suffers a birth injury due to the negligence of a doctor. These injuries can require lifelong treatment and care. You'll be faced with enormous financial costs.
Many birth injury lawsuits injuries cases involve a complex debate over medical errors versus malpractice. Our lawyers can help you to understand the distinctions.
Costs of Treatment
Attorneys, insurance companies, and judges look at the severity of the Birth Injury Law Firms injury as well as the impact it has on the child's development when determining the amount of compensation to be awarded. If a child needs extensive medical treatment that continues over time the value of the claim will rise.
Medical treatment for birth injuries can be extremely expensive. The compensation awarded for a birth injury can help families cover the costs. Lawyers often collaborate with experts to develop an "Life Care Plan" which calculates the lifetime cost of a child's injuries. These expenses include hospitalization, surgeries, specialized medical treatments, prescriptions, home improvements and equipment, etc.
Your legal team will gather medical records from the pregnancy and birth of your child, in addition to firsthand accounts from family members. They will be used to prove that your child suffered an injury due to negligence in the medical field and to show the extent of the damage caused.
Many states have medical indemnity funds, which provide financial assistance to families with children who suffer birth injuries. These funds take a percentage of the malpractice insurance premiums or require hospitals and doctors to contribute to the pool of resources. These programs can provide families with financial support and reduce the necessity of filing a lawsuit. JLARC staff discovered that these programs didn't always achieve their goals and need to be improved.
Life Care Planning
Children with disorders such as hypoxic ischephalopathy, cerebral palsy, or hypoxic ir will require medical attention throughout their lives. These needs include physical therapies, specialized equipment, and home health care. In many cases, these costs can be quite substantial.
A life-care planning document is a document which outlines the future medical, educational home, and other expenditures a child with disabilities will endure throughout their life. These plans are used to calculate the economic portion of a settlement in the case of birth injury. The plans must be precise and carefully drafted in order to satisfy the strict requirements of admissibility.
Life-care planners can assist to develop these documents with input and formal opinions from the child's medical professionals or therapists as well as caregivers. The plans also contain a detailed narrative of the injury that caused it and its diagnosis. They explain the underlying reason for the disability and its long-term consequences.
An attorney for medical malpractice should work with a life care planner to come up with the best plan for their client's needs. The plan's purpose is to ensure that your child receives adequate compensation to cover all of their future expenses and health care. The money is typically put into a trust for children with special needs, which is administered by an administrator who is approved. Typically the amount granted will be adjusted over time to reflect any changes in your child's requirements.
Suffering and Pain
In a case which involves birth injuries the damages awarded compensate the plaintiff for the past and future discomfort and pain. This includes mental and physical distress from the injury, as well as the inability to engage in activities enjoyed by others.
It is also possible to recuperate for the loss of income when the victim's condition limits their career options or prevents them from working at all. Families can also be compensated for the care and treatment of an injured child.
Medical malpractice claims often have very high verdicts, since juries tend to show sympathy for victims and hold medical professionals accountable for their errors. Many doctors and hospitals settle rather than risk a trial that is expensive and stressful for all parties involved.
Both sides will gather evidence to back their arguments during the litigation. They will also exchange documents during the process known as discovery, which includes deposing witnesses to obtain their statements under oath. The defendants may also request to see the plaintiff's medical records which is permitted in all states.
An experienced lawyer who has handled this type of situation is needed to make a successful claim for birth injuries. A knowledgeable attorney will examine your case to determine whether you have a valid claim and will work to obtain the most favorable settlement.
Punitive Damages
Certain medical malpractice lawsuits also contain punitive damages awards, that are intended to serve as a warning and discourage future negligence. The damages can be awarded when there is a high level of malice or negligence on the part the doctor. However, they are not common in birth injury cases.
After the attorney has identified appropriate defendants, they have to find and analyze evidence to support their claims. They must establish that the injuries sustained by medical professionals did not meet the standards of care required. The legal team should also prove the losses that were incurred with the injuries, which are known as "damages." These damages could be economic or non-economic.
The economic losses are usually calculated by estimation of the cost of a child's ongoing treatment, which may include long-term care facilities and other services. They can also include the loss of earnings if the injury led one or both parents to leave their jobs.
The legal team will draft the demand package which they will give to malpractice insurance providers. The document will detail the birth injury, its effects on the child's family and in order to seek compensation to cover the costs of these loss. The attorneys will negotiate with medical professionals until the settlement is reached. During the discovery process, lawyers will exchange information with other party about their case. This includes taking depositions of witnesses who testify on oath.