Birth Injury Compensation
It can be a devastating experience when your child suffers birth injury as a result of an error by a medical professional. These injuries could require long-term treatment and treatment. You’ll be left with huge financial costs.
Many birth injuries cases have a complicated debate about medical malpractice versus medical errors. Our lawyers can assist you discern the differences.
Costs of Treatment
Attorneys, insurance companies and judges look at the severity of the birth injury and the impact it affects the child’s quality of life in determining the amount of compensation to be paid. If a child needs intensive medical treatment that continues over time, the value of the claim will increase.
Medical treatment for birth injuries can be extremely expensive. Compensation for birth injuries can aid families in covering these costs. Lawyers and experts frequently collaborate to develop an «Life Care Plan» that calculates the costs of a child’s injury over the course of a lifetime. This includes hospitalization costs or surgical intervention, medical treatment prescriptions, home improvements and equipment, and more.
Your legal team will collect medical records from the time of pregnancy and birth of your child, along with firsthand accounts 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 offer financial aid to families of children who suffer from birth injuries. These funds collect a portion of malpractice insurance premiums or require doctors and hospitals to contribute to an investment fund. In addition to providing financial assistance, these programs may also help reduce the need for families to pursue a lawsuit. However, JLARC staff found that these programs do not always meet their goals and could be improved.
Life Care Planning
Children with conditions like hypoxic ischephalopathy, cerebral palsy, or hypoxic ir will require medical attention for the rest of their lives. These requirements include physical therapy, special equipment and home health care. In many cases, these costs can be quite significant.
A life-care planning plan is one that lists the future medical, educational home, and other expenditures that a child with disabilities is likely to endure throughout their life. These plans are used to calculate the financial portion of the compensation awarded in cases of birth injury. They should be comprehensive and carefully drafted to satisfy the strict requirements for evidence legal admissibility in court.
Life-care experts can assist in the development of these documents based on the their input and the formal opinions of a disabled child’s doctors as well as therapists and caregivers. The plans also include a detailed account of the injury that caused it and its diagnosis. They describe the underlying causes of the disability as well as its long-term effects.
A medical malpractice lawyer should work with a life care planner to create the most effective plan for their client’s specific situation. The plan’s purpose is to ensure that your child is compensated enough to cover all of their future costs and expenses. The money is typically put into a trust account for special needs, which is administered by an authorized administrator. Typically the amount granted will be adjusted over time to accommodate changes in your child’s future requirements.
Pain and Suffering
In cases involving birth injuries, damages are awarded to compensate the plaintiff for future and past discomfort and pain. This includes physical and mental discomfort caused by the injury, as also the inability to engage in activities that others can do.
You can also recover lost income when a victim’s injury affects their work options or prohibits them from working all. In addition, families can be compensated if required to provide care for an injured child.
Medical malpractice claims often have very high verdicts, since juries are more likely to show compassion for victims and hold doctors accountable for errors. Many doctors and hospitals opt to settle rather than risk a trial that is expensive and difficult for all parties involved.
Both sides will gather evidence to back their arguments during the litigation. They will share documents through a process known as discovery, which entails deposing witnesses to get statements under swearing. In most states, defendants can ask to see the records of the plaintiff.
A lawyer who is experienced in this type of case is required to submit an effective claim for birth injuries. An experienced attorney will go over the details of your case, determine if it is in line with the specifications for a lawsuit and ensure the highest settlement for your financial needs.
Punitive Damages
Certain medical malpractice lawsuits contain punitive damages. These are designed to communicate a message to discourage future reckless behavior. These damages are awarded when there is a high level of negligence or malice on the part the doctor. However, they are extremely rare in cases of birth injury attorney injuries.
After identifying the defendants the attorney must collect and analyze the evidence to support the claim. They must prove that the injuries incurred by medical professionals were not at the standards of care required. The legal team must also show evidence of the losses that are associated with the injuries, which are known as «damages.» These damages could be economic or non-economic.
The economic losses are usually calculated by estimating the cost of the child’s ongoing treatment, including long-term care facilities and other services. They could also include lost earnings if a traumatic event has caused both parents to lose their job.
The legal team will then create a demand document that they can present to the malpractice insurers. This document will detail the birth injuries, and their impact on the child and the family, and ask for compensation for the losses. The attorneys will negotiate with medical providers until the settlement is reached. During this process, the attorneys will exchange information about their cases with the opposing side through discovery, which involves depositions of witnesses who take testimony under oath.