A doctor’s negligence can forever change your child’s life during the prenatal care phase or the labor and delivery process. They may suffer a serious birth injury from which they will never recover. Even if your child can make some progress, it may only come after years of suffering and discomfort. If you can prove that the doctor was negligent, your child may be entitled to substantial financial compensation to cover a lifetime of damages.
Contact a medical malpractice lawyer to learn more about your child’s legal rights and the potential for financial compensation.
Examples of Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can include the following:
- Cerebral palsy
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Caput Succedaneum
- Prenatal stroke
- Erb’s palsy
- Intracranial hemorrhage
How to Win a Birth Injury Case
Your family needs to prove that the doctor acted negligently in causing your child’s birth injury to be eligible for financial compensation. The mere fact that the birth injury occurred is not automatic evidence that negligence happened. Instead, you must demonstrate that the doctor did something considerable under the circumstances.
Your birth injury lawyer needs expert witnesses to show what the doctor did wrong in comparison to what a reasonable doctor would have done. You need to take the jury into the doctor’s office or labor and delivery room to show them what the error was. Birth injury cases can be drawn out and complicated with no guarantee of success.
How Much Is My Child’s Birth Injury Case Worth?
When your child has suffered a lifelong injury, there will be a host of expenses involved in their care. They may need medical care for a lifetime, and this is just the beginning of the lost list of costs your family will face. Depending on the severity of your child’s injuries, they may need other types of care. They might even require round-the-clock assistance with the activities of daily life. Your child might need special education because their disabilities may leave them unable to learn the same as other children.
Birth injury compensation also looks ahead to when your child becomes an adult. While it seems very premature to think about what your child’s life might have been like as an adult, that is exactly what you have to do when negotiating for birth injury compensation. For example, your child could have had a career where they would have earned money. Your birth injury claim can even include lost earnings for both your child, who is unable to work in the future, and the parents who needed to take time off from work to care for their injured child.
Non–Economic Damages from Birth Injuries
The non-economic damages associated with birth injuries can be every bit as high as the actual financial losses. Your child might have to live a lifetime with severe injuries from which they will never recover. Pain and suffering is one of the major components of birth injury compensation. Your child might experience significant discomfort for the rest of their life. Their injuries might cause them embarrassment and humiliation when they are forced to live their life with a disability. If your child has suffered a severe birth injury, it is not uncommon for the pain and suffering damages alone to be in the millions of dollars.
Even though your child is injured from birth, they may still qualify for damages for loss of enjoyment of life. Your child may not live a normal life and participate in activities like other children do. They may not get married and raise a family. Your child may seek compensation for these losses as part of their settlement.
Your Child’s Case Could Be Worth a Lot of Money
Your child’s birth injury compensation can be considerable. Since they are living a lifetime with these injuries, it is not uncommon for birth injury cases to be worth millions of dollars. The medical malpractice insurance company will make it as difficult as possible for your family to recover all the money your child deserves. They know they can be on the hook for millions of dollars or more and will do everything possible to avoid this outcome.
Your birth injury lawyer makes it their mission for your child to get all the compensation they are due. Since your child’s care can cost millions of dollars throughout a lifetime, you want to make sure there is money left over to cover other expenses necessary for your child’s care.
How Your Birth Attorney Knows the Value of Your Child’s Case
When it comes to your child’s compensation, your birth injury attorney can work with a number of experts to help determine the amount of damages that you are seeking. These experts can include:
- Educational experts to know what your child’s schooling needs will be
- Vocational experts to understand what type of work your child may be able to do
- Medical experts to learn the scope of their injuries and what their condition may be in the future
- Life care planning experts to understand what type of care your child may need in the future
- Economic experts to know how costs will change in the future due to inflation and other economic conditions
Your birth injury lawyer will fight on behalf of your child and family. Remember that most medical malpractice cases will settle before you reach a trial. However, the insurance company is only motivated to settle when they come to the realization that you have built a strong case, which you do through the discovery process. The insurance company may be very afraid to go in front of a jury when their policyholder is to blame for a child’s serious injuries. They may even fear the prospect of punitive damages, so they may eventually become more reasonable in settlement negotiations.
Consult a Birth Injury Attorney Today
While your focus is on your child’s health, you should also consider your legal rights and financial future. Consultations with a personal injury lawyer are free, so never wait to schedule yours and discuss a possible case. There is legal support available.