What Is a Birth Injury Lawsuit?
A birth injury lawsuit is a type of legal action where families can get money if their child was born with major health problems that could have been prevented with proper care. These lawsuits can be filed against negligent medical professionals or hospitals. Birth Injury Lawyers can help with the process.
Compensation helps
The money from these lawsuits can help pay for medical care and therapies, keeping children comfortable and healthy. More specifically, compensation can help pay for:
· Adaptive equipment
· Occupational, speech, and physical therapies
· Medications
· Nursing and special care
· Surgery
· Other medical and personal expenses
Why File a Lawsuit for Birth Injury Cases?
Filing a lawsuit can ease some of the burdens of caring for a disabled child and possibly protect other families from birth injuries.
· Cover Costs of Care
If your child has suffered a severe birth injury, their care requirements may be more costly than the average costs of raising a child. Financial compensation from a lawsuit can help you afford treatments to prevent your child’s condition from worsening or help them make a full recovery if possible.
· Seek Justice
Cerebral palsy and other conditions that stem from birth injuries can affect your child for the rest of their life. Depending on the diagnosis, your child may not be able to move, walk, talk, eat, or speak without help. By filing a lawsuit, you can find justice knowing you don’t have to pay the medical costs for a disability that could have been avoided.
· Help Other Families
Lawsuits can also help you raise awareness about a particular doctor or hospital.
While your child may have been harmed due to an unavoidable problem, it may also mean that the doctor should not be practicing. Through a lawsuit, your story can alert other families who could be at risk.
Filing a lawsuit may also encourage other families who suffered a birth injury to also take legal action and get the compensation they’re due.
Birth Injury Lawsuit Process
Most birth injury lawsuits follow a similar process. After preliminary evidence is gathered, the lawsuit is filed. Lawyers will then either reach a legal agreement called a settlement or go to trial to resolve the case.
The first step to filing a lawsuit is to contact a birth injury lawyer with experience in birth injury cases. A lawyer can help you file your case on time, gather evidence you need, and pursue compensation.
Although every case is different, the general steps involved in filing a claim are detailed below.
1. Claim Investigation
Before filing a claim, your lawyer will need to determine the extent of treatment — and, in turn, compensation — your child will need. To do this, you and your lawyer can create a Life Care Plan that documents how much your child’s medical needs will cost throughout their life. Then, your lawyers can start the birth injury lawsuit process to get money for the expenses listed in the plan.
2. Gathering Evidence
Your lawyer will need to show how your child’s injuries or death stemmed from malpractice for the lawsuit to be successful. To do this, they will gather information and evidence from you to build a strong case.
3. Filing the Lawsuit
Your Birth Injury Lawyer will draft and file the lawsuit against the defendants, who are typically the doctors and/or hospitals that may be responsible for your child’s injuries. The court will then issue a schedule for the case.
4. Discovery
After the defendants respond to the complaint, your lawyer will gather more information to strengthen your case. This is known as the discovery process, and it takes place over a predetermined period as set by the court.
During this time, your lawyers may request additional medical records and other documents related to your child’s birth to provide more in-depth information. You, your loved ones, and expert witnesses may also have to give statements or answer questions under oath during this time.
5. Settlement
Most birth injury lawsuits reach settlements before going to trial. To reach a birth injury settlement, your lawyers and the defendant’s lawyers will negotiate a payment for you.
It’s often in your best interest to settle the case because you can get money faster. Your other option is going to trial, which will take longer, adds legal expenses to your case, and does not come with a guarantee of more money.
6. Trial
If a settlement is not a viable option, the case will go to court and a judge or jury will decide on the outcome. Only a small percent of lawsuits make it to the trial stage because they are extremely risky. Even if you have very strong evidence that a doctor harmed your child, there’s no way to know for sure if a jury will award you with compensation.
7. Verdict and Reward
Once all evidence has been heard, each side will give their closing arguments. The judge or jury will then determine if they believe the defendants are responsible for your child’s injuries and, if so, how much they will need to pay in damages.
Seek Legal Help
If your child has suffered a birth injury, consider seeking help from a dedicated birth injury lawyer to pursue birth injury lawsuit compensation, you can make sure your child will get the best treatments and therapies after their diagnosis.