Birth Injury Lawsuits
Welcoming a child into the world can be an exciting and beautiful experience. Most children are born safely without any serious complications or injuries. But that’s not always the case. Some birth injuries are unavoidable. However, others can be the result of negligence on the part of the hospital, doctors, or other medical professionals.
If birth injuries leave your family with medical expenses and care costs, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Talk to a birth injury law firm for a case evaluation if your child suffered a birth injury.
Types of Birth Defects and Birth Injuries
Doctors are health care professionals are held to a high standard of care in treating their patients. This includes OB-GYNs and other doctors providing prenatal care, perinatal care, and delivery. When doctors fail to protect pregnant patients and infants, it can lead to serious harm. Birth injuries can include permanent disabilities, brain injuries, and wrongful death.
Medical errors can happen anytime during pregnancy, during delivery, or immediately after birth. Some common birth injuries and impairments include:
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Shoulder dystocia
- C-section injuries
- Fetal distress
- Forceps and extraction device injuries
- Cerebral palsy
- Brain damage
- Erb’s palsy
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
Birth Injuries and Medical Malpractice Claims
Birth injury lawsuits are based on medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is a specific form of medical negligence claim against medical professionals. To recover damages, medical malpractice lawsuits require you to prove four essential elements:
- The defendant (the health care practitioner) owed you or your child a standard of care
- The defendant failed to meet that standard of care
- You or your child would not have been injured if not for that failure
- The injuries caused financial losses
Birth injury and medical malpractice claims are based on a specific standard of care that applies to doctors. The standard requires medical professionals to perform as other professionals would in similar circumstances.
For example, if obstetricians with similar training would have performed a Cesarean section operation but your doctor did not, your doctor may have breached their duty of care.
Causation can be difficult to prove in birth injury cases. Medical mistake claims depend on expert witness testimony. Through medical expert testimony, you can prove if the doctor’s actions fell below the standard for medical care in your community and if the injuries were a result of the doctor’s actions.
Suing on Behalf of Your Child
An infant or young child can’t file a lawsuit on their own. However, most states allow the parent of a child who suffers an injury during childbirth to have the standing to sue on the child’s behalf.
In some jurisdictions, this would require the child’s guardian ad litem to file the lawsuit. The court can appoint you as your child’s guardian ad litem and file the lawsuit in your name as the child’s representative.
In most cases, several medical professionals and entities will have a hand in a new baby’s arrival. Each has a different part to play and could face liability for injuries that occur during the birthing process:
- Obstetricians or other health care providers
- Hospitals
- Nurses
- Pharmaceutical companies
Possible Birth Injury Compensation
If you can prove your birth injury claim, you can get financial compensation for damages. A child’s birth injury damages can depend on the severity and type of birth injury. Damages can include medical bills, rehabilitation costs, loss of income, and additional living expenses. You may also recover damages for pain and suffering or emotional distress. Some states allow for punitive damages if a medical professional’s conduct is egregious or outrageous.
Damages cannot undo the harm caused or give the child the opportunities they may have had if they were not injured. However, financial damages can give your family the resources to provide the necessary, ongoing care your child needs and hold the defendant accountable for medical malpractice.
Birth Injury Statutes of Limitation
Like all lawsuits, birth injury claims are subject to time limits, also known as the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the time period during which you can file a lawsuit. If the time period passes before you file, you will lose whatever claim you might have. Time limits vary by state, from as little as one or two years to six. The time limit can also depend on when you discover the injury.
In some states, minor injury victims have additional time to file a lawsuit. The statute of limitations may wait to run until the child reaches age 18. This depends on state law, so make sure you contact a birth injury attorney as soon as you suspect there may be a problem.
Your medical malpractice attorney can advise you about the statute of limitations and other potential procedural obstacles your birth injury lawsuit may face. Contact an experienced birth injury lawyer about your legal options.