A birth injury is an injury to the baby or the mother during pregnancy, delivery, or the neonatal period. Birth injuries in babies can cause immediate symptoms, life-long complications, and substantial medical expenses. Parents of children who have suffered birth injuries do and should take legal action to pursue compensation. Getting the filing process right is crucial, and there are crucial things to remember and do during this process.
You Must Prove a Birth Injury
You must prove negligence and that this negligence led to injuries, harm, and the damages you are seeking. You need to know or prove four things to win a medical negligence or birth injury case.
The first is the duty of care, which states that medical professionals, including doctors, must act in ways that ensure their patients are not harmed. The duty of care relies on you proving a doctor-patient relationship before the injuries.
There also has to be a breach of this duty, causation (the breach of duty caused damages), and provable damages. For example, you may be able to prove that:
A midwife was supposed to be monitoring fetal oxygen levels during delivery(duty of care)
They did not do so (breach of duty)
Not doing so caused cerebral palsy (causation)
Cerebral palsy caused severe symptoms, disabilities, cognitive difficulties, and significant medical expenses (damages)
In such a case, an attorney can help you file a cerebral palsy birth injury lawsuit since they will be able to prove that the medical professional's negligence caused the condition.
Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Have a Statute of Limitation
The statute of limitation is the time you have to file a lawsuit after an incident. Do understand you cannot file a case after this period has lapsed.
Different states have different statutes of limitation for birth injury lawsuits. For example, Illinois allows you to sue up to eight years after the incident, while Michigan only allows you to sue up to the child’s tenth birthday. You should talk to a birth injury attorney so they can help you know what the statute of limitation is for your state.
Multiple Parties Can Be Responsible for a Birth Injury
You must know the party responsible and who you can sue before filing a cerebral palsy birth injury lawsuit or any other kind of birth injury lawsuit. You can sue numerous people or even a healthcare facility, depending on the specific circumstances of your case.
Even though doctors are subject to the most lawsuits, you can also sue nurses, midwives, the hospital, pharmacists, and medical equipment manufacturers. Hospitals get sued because they must hire competent medical professionals who provide the highest level of care.
Conclusion
If your child has suffered a birth injury, you should get them checked out immediately so doctors can provide the necessary care. You are also within your rights to file a lawsuit to pursue damages because most birth injuries have life-long consequences.
