Birth Injury Litigation
Medical mistakes during labor and delivery can cause serious birth injuries to infants. These injuries leave a lasting impact on the infant and their family.
A successful lawsuit may assist in paying for medical expenses now and in the future, lost wages, and other damages. A successful lawsuit may take years to achieve.
Compensation
Despite the incredible medical advances, childbirth is still a risky procedure. Mothers and babies expect doctors on hand to behave professionally and avoid errors which could have long-lasting consequences. If your baby was injured due to negligence of a medical professional or hospital, you may want to speak with an New York birth injury lawyer to determine what legal options you have.
If you’re successful with your claim, you will be awarded financial compensation. This can include future and ongoing medical costs, lost wages, emotional stress and many other damages. In some cases juries and judge may also award punitive damage for an act of adversity.
Your attorney will work closely with a network of expert witnesses to determine what took place and the standard of care that is accepted. They will go through your entire medical record and analyze the actions of your medical team during your birth. This information will help you build solid arguments and increase your chances of success.
Before bringing a lawsuit your lawyer will usually attempt to bargain with the malpractice insurance company. This requires submitting an itemized list of demands that includes a comprehensive declaration of the losses suffered by your family and medical evidence that supports them. The malpractice company will respond with an offer. If there is no settlement the case will go to trial.
Damages
The damages that a plaintiff receives may be either financial (such as medical bills) or non-economic (such as suffering and pain). In a majority of cases juries award both. The amount of money an individual victim will be awarded will depend on how the accident has affected them in addition to their past and future losses. Certain states also impose limits on how much a jury can award for non-economic damages.
To be able to claim compensation, you must prove that the defendant did not fulfill their duty of caring. This is done through the use of medical documents and expert witness testimony and depositions. Medical experts are those who have specialized in a certain area of medical practice. They examine every piece of evidence and appear in court if they are required. In cases involving birth injuries experts will be able to prove that the defendant’s actions were outside of the standard of care expected from medical professionals with the same training and experience in the case’s circumstances.
Attorneys may also depose anyone with a relevant story, or who has an unusual perspective. These are legally sworn statements that are made outside of court and permit lawyers to inquire of witnesses directly what transpired. Some depositions are conducted via the phone or through a video conferences, but the majority are held in a courtroom. These discussions can be difficult and stressful, but are essential to constructing a convincing case for clients and obtaining the maximum possible amount of compensation.
Statute of limitations
In New York, as in the majority of states, medical malpractice claims must be filed within a time frame of a statute of limitations. Parents have two and a half years from the date of an act, omission or failure believed to have caused their child’s injury to make a claim.
Your attorney can look over the medical records of your child to determine whether any nurses or doctors, as well as other hospital staff, were involved in the birth of your daughter or son. He or she will seek any documents or information that pertains to the injuries of your child.
In order to prove malpractice, your lawyer must prove that the defendant owed your child a obligation and violated that duty in failing to comply with the standards of care in similar circumstances. To prove this, you lawyer will work with medical professionals in comparing the actions of the medical professional to accepted practices and procedures.
An attorney can help you find witnesses who will provide testimony in your case. These professionals can provide valuable insight into the process of making decisions by a doctor and how a mistake or omission caused the birth injury of your child. Your lawyer can then use this evidence to prove your claim for compensation. A successful medical malpractice case involves two distinct legal claims one for the injured child and another for the parents.
Expert Witnesses
Families can be compensated for medical expenses, lost wages due to absences from work, rehabilitation treatments and therapies and costs for long-term care with the right assistance. The key to winning a birth injury lawsuits-injury claim is having the most experienced experts as your witnesses.
They are able to look over the evidence and provide an expert opinion on whether a medical professional violated their duty to care by performing an act that could have resulted in an infant’s injury. They can explain complicated medical terms to make it easier for judges or jury to comprehend.
The role of an expert witness is to provide impartial medical evidence that reflects the state of knowledge at the time of the incident that is being investigated. This means that they should not omit any relevant information to create a view that is more favorable to either the plaintiff or the defendant.
Experts must also look over the relevant medical records as well as contemporaneous literature with sufficient thoroughness to allow them to form an informed opinion. In certain instances, an expert may be required to provide an unassailable statement in the courtroom. These sessions can be a bit intimidating however they are an essential aspect of the preparation of the case. Your attorney can help you prepare for these sessions and ensure that you are treated with respect.