It’s not every day that you encounter someone with a congenital deformity caused by a birth injury. But that’s probably because people with conspicuous birth abnormalities grapple with self-consciousness, which affects their ability to pursue active lifestyles. That’s if they’re lucky to survive the injuries in the first place.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 7 in every 1,000 babies born in the United States suffer from birth injuries. While that translates to a paltry 0.7% of all births, it doesn’t discount the physical pain and emotional trauma faced by both the child and its parents.
The reality of birth injuries hits harder if the trauma is due to medical malpractice. Although you may not always reverse the consequences of these mishaps, you can mitigate their emotional and financial impacts by enlisting the services of a birth injury lawyer.
Below is a six-step procedure on how a personal injury attorney can help you process a birth injury lawsuit.
1. Contacting an Attorney
Contacting a lawyer is the first step in the birth injury legal process. This should happen immediately after a birth injury occurs.
Most hospitals are transparent about having delivered injured or deformed babies in their facilities. Usually, the nurses will courteously approach the parents and inform them that something is out of whack with their baby.
Even so, most birth injuries are discernible without medical knowledge. Be sure to inform your lawyer of the hospital where the injury occurred and the circumstances surrounding the delivery.
Experienced birth injury lawyers will swiftly get to the location and embark on extensive research to get to the bottom of the matter. Preliminary investigations typically aim at establishing if there’s a viable medical malpractice, after which the lawyer will recommend the next course of action.
2. Conducting Investigations
Birth injury lawyers are professionally trained to gather critical evidence implicating a healthcare facility of medical malpractice.
First, the attorney will delve into the circumstances surrounding the birth. They’ll seek to understand the qualifications of attending physicians and the nature of the delivery room.
The next phase of the investigation entails conducting interviews with hospital staffers and patients. Interviewing employees can help uncover the frequency of similar mishaps in the facility.
Thereafter, your lawyer will seek professional counsel from another doctor.
Your attorney will also assess your medical history for evidence of previous birth complications. While the lawyer may not use this information against you, it can tilt the balance if the facility is privy to such details.
Photo Credit: Pixabay.com
3. Filing a Lawsuit
Few hospitals will happily admit to professional negligence in their facilities, much less if the potential malpractice involves sensitive matters like birth injuries. Therefore, taking the matter to full trial is almost always the best recourse.
Note that time is of the essence when handling birth injury legal cases.
Sitting on the collected evidence significantly minimizes the chances of being awarded fair representation. Besides, there’s a statute of limitation for birth injuries.
So, your attorney should prepare the necessary legal documentation and file a lawsuit against the medical facility immediately.
4. Pretrial Phase
After preferring medical malpractice charges against the hospital, your attorney will serve the defendants with a detailed and passionately written complaint.
The defendant will likely contact you immediately and try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement, especially if they suspect the facts are on your side.
You can accept or decline their overtures on your attorney’s advice.
If both parties cannot reach a consensus, the matter will proceed to full trial. At this point, the defendant will involve their lawyers and insurance companies.
Photo Credit: Pixabay.com
5. Trial Phase
Litigating birth injury lawsuits begins with the discovery.
In the discovery period, the legal representatives of both sides familiarize themselves with all the evidence by cross-serving interrogatories. This is necessary to strengthen their respective client’s cases.
Your attorney will exchange all evidence with your defendant’s legal counsel except for confidential or privileged information. They’ll then depose the medical professionals as the other team deposes the baby’s parents or caregivers.
Birth injury litigations typically last 12 – 36 months. However, the process may be delayed by unforeseen delays, such as requests for further investigations.
6. Compensation
Parties to a birth injury case can pursue a mediated settlement even if the matter is already in court.
As the plaintiff, you wish the case to be over and done with so you can embark on the path to full emotional recovery. But whichever direction it goes, the ultimate wish is to receive your fair settlement.
Birth injury compensation can run into millions, depending on how skillfully your attorney prosecutes the case.
Actual settlements depend on numerous factors, such as the injury’s extent, financial losses, and estimations of emotional damage.
Photo Credit: Pixabay.com
Final Word
No parent wishes for their child to suffer a birth injury. But in the unlikely event that it occurs, your best recourse is to contact a personal injury lawyer immediately.
Choose a licensed attorney with a stellar track record litigating birth injury lawsuit. You may ask for a list of referrals or read online reviews for more insights into the law firm’s services.
Besides, insist on a birth injury lawyer who maintains open communication channels. The attorney should clearly explain your legal options and keep you in the loop on each development with the case, especially if the matter goes to full trial.
Round-the-clock availability and transparency in legal fees are other key indicators of a reputable birth injury law firm.
