Krystyna McAllister asked 10 months ago
The Benefits of a Birth Injury Settlement
A settlement for a birth injury can aid in the payment of medical expenses that can be costly. The amount you receive can be contingent upon the kind of birth injury that your child sustained.
Costs for long-term care are often caused by severe birth injuries, like cerebral palsy. These expenses are called economic damages and are not subject to caps on the maximum amount.
Compensation
Medical malpractice laws can hold doctors and nurses liable for errors they make during childbirth that can have lasting and life-altering effects on the baby or mother. In some cases, the court may award compensation for lawyers damages, such as pain and discomfort, loss of consortium and future expenses for physical therapy, medical bills and more.
A birth injury lawsuit could also seek reimbursement for costs that could have been avoided had the doctor not committed malpractice. These include loss of income and diminished earning capacity. Parents who must care for their children with disabilities often face significant financial losses. In addition some birth injuries require expensive equipment or modifications to the home, which can create a lot of expenses.
Lawyers usually start the claims process by sending an application to the doctor or hospital’s malpractice insurer, which includes details of the incident and all relevant documentation. The insurance company will then examine the claim and either accept or reject it. If it rejects the offer lawyers will prepare to make a claim.
Some states have indemnity fund to treat birth injuries, which can reduce the amount of medical malpractice premiums or lawyers charges charged by doctors of obstetrics. These funds are not able to cover the costs of a lifetime’s worth of care. Additionally, they do not prevent plaintiffs from seeking monetary compensation from other defendants, like the hospital where the negligence occurred.
Expert Witnesses
The medical experts involved in a birth injury lawsuit owe the mother and child a duty to follow the accepted standards of care. If a healthcare professional is not able to meet this obligation and the result is an injury, then they could be held accountable. Expert witnesses are required to support this claim. These are typically doctors in the same field or a similar field, who can explain in plain English the standard of practice and the way in which the medical professional who was liable for the malpractice violated the standard.
A skilled birth injury lawyer knows how to secure and present the most credible expert witness testimony. They have the knowledge to anticipate and fight the defenses offered by healthcare providers, so that the case is presented in the best light.
Your attorney will help you determine the total amount of your losses, and will prove it in court. These include both economic damages and non-economic ones, like medical expenses as well as pain and suffering, and lost income.
A good birth injury attorney has also worked with with insurers and knows the tactics they use to convince victims to accept low-ball settlement offers. Your lawyer can help you resist these pressures, and keep your case on track until the malpractice insurers of the medical professionals agree to accept a settlement. Your lawyer can start a lawsuit to force them to negotiate in good faith in the event that they refuse.
Statute of Limitations
Parents can make claims on behalf of their children for expenses resulting from birth injuries, however there are strict deadlines to file. For example, medical malpractice claims based on injuries to the mother generally must be filed within two years of the date of the negligent act or omission that led to the claim. In contrast birth injury claims based on injuries sustained by the child are typically filed until the child turns 10.
To make a convincing case, you must prove that the medical professional who treated your child violated the applicable standard. This may require an extensive review of medical documents, tests, and interviews with other doctors, nurses, and hospital staff who were present during birth and labor.
If you can prove that a medical professional was unable to meet the standards of care, this doesn’t mean that you automatically be able to win your case. You must also prove that this negligence directly caused your child’s injuries. This is referred to as causation and it is a highly disputable issue in many medical malpractice cases.
It is crucial to select an attorney who has the resources to build your case and then take it to an investigation. Your lawyer will typically pay for the costs of litigation and only get paid if they obtain compensation for you. This allows you to focus your attention on your child’s healing and provides financial security in the event of an extended trial.
Time Limits
Each state has a statute of limitations, also known as a timeframe within which you can file a lawsuit. This restriction ensures that legal matters are pursued in a timely fashion and while physical evidence is still accessible and the testimony of witnesses remain fresh. For birth injuries the statute of limitation is typically two and one-half years from the date of the accident or negligence.
There are some exceptions to this rule for injuries sustained by infants. For instance, New York laws allow for an extended period of limitations for medical malpractice claims on behalf children, and extend the deadline to 10 years from the birth of the child.
An experienced birth injury attorney will know the particulars of each state’s statute of limitations. They’ll be aware of any unique aspects that are relevant to the birth injury case of a child. Many birth injury cases include significant economic damages. These include future lost income, or loss of life expectancy, and future and past medical costs. Economic damages don’t have a maximum cap and can be a significant factor in the value of the case.
A good birth injury lawyer is proficient in the process of negotiating with insurance adjusters. They will be able to spot a lowball offer and make use of their experience to counter with a fair settlement amount. In some cases it is possible to have a settlement reached outside of court. In other situations, a trial may be necessary to receive the amount you are due.