The Work of a New Mexico Birth Injury Attorney
Unfortunately, many mistakes made by doctors during the delivery can lead to serious birth injuries in newborns. These injuries can lead to the need for ongoing care and medical expenses that deplete families' finances.
Like all malpractice lawsuits, birth injury cases require proving that the medical professional violated their duty to provide fair medical care. This is a complicated undertaking.
Preparing a Claim
The legal process in a birth injury case starts with a thorough review of your child's medical records. These records contain a wealth of information that may demonstrate that the doctor's negligence was at fault. A qualified attorney can identify the key pieces of evidence and gather other documents that can be used to back your claim.
The lawyer will also collaborate with one or more medical experts to establish that the doctor's actions didn't adhere to the standards of medical care expected of a professional in the same field. A medical expert can help jurors understand how the doctor's failure to act or actions led to the injuries of your child.
If a medical expert can establish that negligence by the doctor caused your child's injuries The next step will be to determine the amount of damages your child is entitled to. This includes past and future medical expenses and loss of earnings over the course of a year and suffering and pain.
Based on the severity of your child's injuries you could be entitled to damages for punitive or exemplary injuries. These additional damages are intended to penalize the medical professional responsible for their reckless negligence or disregard, and deter other people from acting in the same manner.
Many birth injuries are caused by medical errors during the delivery of the baby. These mistakes can occur at any time during pregnancy however, they are more likely to occur during labor and delivery. If a medical professional is guilty of error, it can lead to serious and lasting injuries to both the mother and baby.
Some of the most common birth injuries include shoulder dystocia, brain damage, spinal cord injuries, and Erb's paralysis. Erb's palsy is a type of nerve damage that causes partial or total paralysis of the arm, and is typically caused by trauma to the brachial plexus in the birth. In most cases, this problem can be avoided with proper treatment and intervention.
New Mexico law has strict laws that limit the time you can bring a lawsuit relating to medical negligence. The attorney can determine whether your case is eligible for exemptions to these deadlines. Even if your case is strong the case will be dismissed if the statute of limitations has run out. birth injury attorney pittsburgh is critical to get in touch with an New Mexico birth injury attorney immediately to ensure the timely filing of your lawsuit.
Preparing for the Trial
The preparation for a trial starts much earlier than the trial date itself when the legal teams analyze the evidence and develop their theories. Then, they must identify all witnesses and write questions for them. They will also have to compile all exhibits to be used during the trial. They must also prepare jury instructions. All of this preparation is essential to presenting a winning claim and winning compensation for victims.
Birth injuries caused by a medical professional's mistake can cause life-altering effects for a family. Children who suffer from injuries like this require a lifetime of medical care and treatments. Families may need assistance paying for treatments, therapies, and specialized equipment. A skilled New Mexico birth injuries attorney can help families obtain compensation to cover these costs.
In order to bring a birth injury lawsuit the family must show that their doctor or medical provider failed to provide the care that reasonable medical professionals would have provided under similar circumstances. Medical malpractice is exactly what it is. To prove this, the injured party must establish four elements: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages.
Many of the medical errors that result in birth injuries stem from simple errors, like the wrong diagnosis or inadequate treatment for prenatal complications. Some are more complex, like shoulder dystocia which could result in total or partial arm paralysis. In some instances, birth injuries are only visible later in childhood, when the child begins missing developmental milestones.
Contacting a birth injury lawyer as soon as you can following the injury is important as otherwise, the statute of limitations (SOL) could expire. There are some exceptions to the SOL which may extend the time period for filing a lawsuit. A knowledgeable birth injury attorney can explain the specific SOLs that apply to your case and recommend the appropriate timeframe for filing a lawsuit.
Birth injuries typically involve expert testimony to prove that the doctor's treatment fell below the standard of care they provide in their specialization. A medical malpractice company that is certified such as Miller Weisbrod Olesky, works with highly-respected experts across the country to prove these facts in an injury claim involving birth.
How to Claim?
If a birth injury occurs it could cause irreparable and life-altering damage to the child, parents, and family members. A successful claim could pay for future and current medical expenses, loss of income, and suffering and pain. It may also help pay for the cost of equipment and therapies that are specialized. A successful claim requires expert medical testimony proving that the doctor, nurse or any other healthcare professional breached their duty of caring and aggravated the child's injuries.
A New Mexico birth injury lawyer can help families receive the justice they deserve with a lawsuit against the accountable medical provider or healthcare facility. However, it is important to know that medical malpractice claims are subject to strict statutes of limitation. A lawyer can review the specifics of the case and determine the time when the statute of limitation began to expire so that legal action can be initiated before it expires.
In some cases, doctors can be held responsible for birth injuries even though medical negligence wasn't present at the time of delivery. This type of negligence can be caused by a delay in diagnosing the maternal condition, or by not properly using forceps to deliver the baby, or even a failed Caesarean.
A birth injury could be caused by lack or prolonged labor. A New Mexico birth injury lawyer will review the details of a case and identify the parties who could be responsible, such as nurses, doctors, and hospitals. These lawsuits are typically filed against the institution in which the negligent healthcare professional worked.
It is not uncommon for a defendant or their lawyer to claim that there may be other reasons for the injuries of a baby. These include genetic defects or fetal development issues. A New Mexico birth injury attorney can assist the family of the victim argue against this claim by proving that there was evidence of malpractice and that the medical professional's actions or failure to act in a direct manner caused the child's injuries.
A New Mexico birth injury lawyer at Miller Weisbrod Olesky can investigate the case and employ one or more medical experts to establish that a healthcare provider's actions or inability to act was not up to the standard of care in a similar scenario and resulted in the child's injuries. A successful claim can recover compensation damages, which can include past and future medical expenses and income loss as well as pain and suffering and other damages.