
Having a baby should be a joyous and happy time, but if your child was injured during birth or pregnancy, this time may be fraught with stress and expensive medical bills. Approximately five out of every 1,000 births in this country involve a serious injury, and if you think your baby falls into this category, you may want to talk with an attorney about a birth-injury lawsuit.
Here's what you need to know.
1. Birth-Injury Cases Are Often a Type of Medical-Malpractice Suit
Birth injury often falls under the umbrella of
medical malpractice. If the attending physician, nurse practitioner or midwife was negligent during the birth in a way that led to the injury of your child, you may have a medical-malpractice case on your hands.
For example, if an obstetrician-gynecologist used forceps incorrectly while delivering your baby, that could constitute medical malpractice.
It can be tricky to establish negligence, but as a general rule of thumb, negligence means that the medical professional acted in a way that was not in the best interests of you or the child and that most medical professionals in the same situation would not have acted in the same way.
2. Birth Injuries Don't Just Happen During Birth
Birth injuries don't necessarily have to happen in the labor and delivery room. They can also happen during your pregnancy. For instance, if your healthcare provider failed to diagnose a condition such as hypertension or gestational diabetes and that led to issues with your child, this too can constitute a birth injury.
3. Birth-Injury Lawsuits Do Not Have to Be Against the Healthcare Provider
In some cases, you may have a lawsuit against multiple parties. In particular, if the hospital failed to do its due diligence when hiring the doctor who attended you, you may be able to bring a suit against both the doctor and the hospital.
In other cases, the lawsuit may not even involve medical malpractice. Rather, you may have a suit against a drug company or an equipment manufacturer. If you were prescribed a drug during pregnancy that led to birth defects, you may need to bring a suit against that company.
Similarly, if the malfunctioning of certain equipment led to the birth injury, the manufacturer of that equipment may be liable.
4. Birth-Injury Suits Can Include Compensation for a Range of Expenses
If you decide to bring forward a lawsuit, you may be entitled to compensation for your child's medical bills, but that doesn't just include the medical bills you have already incurred. That can also include projected costs for future medical bills, physical therapy, special education and similar costs.
In addition, if you have to quit your job to take care of your child due to the birth injury, you may even be able to get compensation for decades’ worth of lost income. Pain and suffering may also come into play.
5. A Life Care Plan Can Be Essential
Regardless of who was at fault or what type of injuries your child sustained, a life care plan can be essential in this type of case. A life care plan is a document that outlines the anticipated future needs of your child. That includes everything from adaptive toys and equipment to occupational therapy to in-home care expenses and transportation costs to see specialists.
Typically, the medical team that treats your child and your attorney work together to create this document. This document can help the courts come up with a fair compensation amount for you, and it can ensure that you don't accidentally request too little compensation.
Birth-injury lawsuits are not frivolous. They help to ensure that your child gets the care he or she needs for the rest of his or her life, but they also protect future babies from similar injuries. If your child was injured,
contact Bernstein & Bernstein Attorneys at Law today.
Phone: 810-232-5220
Mott Foundation Building
503 S. Saginaw St. Suite 717,
Flint, MI 48502
DOWNRIVER
Phone: 734-284-4774