The Work of a New Mexico Birth Injury Attorney
Unfortunately, many mistakes made by doctors during delivery can result in serious birth injuries in newborns. These injuries can cause a lifetime of care and medical expenses which drain families' funds.
Like all malpractice lawsuits, birth injury cases must prove that the medical professional breached their duty to provide fair medical treatment. This is a complicated undertaking.
Create a Claim
The legal process of a birth injury claim starts with a thorough review of your child's medical records. These records could contain important information that proves that the doctor was negligent. A competent attorney will be able to determine the most crucial evidence, and also collect documents you can use to support your claim.
The attorney will also collaborate with one or more medical experts to prove that the doctor did not adhere to the standards of medical care expected of professionals in the same field. A medical expert will help the jury understand how the doctor's actions, or failure to act led to the injuries suffered by your child.
If the medical expert can establish that the doctor's negligence caused the injuries to your child The next step will be to determine the damages your child is entitled to. This will include the future and past medical expenses and lost earnings over the course of a lifetime as well as suffering and pain.
You could be entitled punitive damages or exemplary damages dependent on the severity of the injuries sustained by your child. These additional damages are designed to penalize the at-fault medical professional for their extreme carelessness or negligence and discourage others from acting similarly.
Many birth injuries are the result of medical errors during the birth of a baby. These mistakes can happen at any point during pregnancy but are most likely to occur during labor and delivery. When a medical professional commits negligence, it could cause grave and long-lasting injuries to both the mother and infant.
Erb's palsy, shoulder dystocia, and brain damage are a few of the most common birth injuries. Erb's Palsy is a kind of nerve damage that causes partial or complete arm paralysis, and is typically caused by trauma to the brachial nerve plexus during the birth. This condition is often preventable with the correct treatment and intervention.
New Mexico law has strict statutes of limitations that impose an imposed time limit within which you can make a claim for medical malpractice. The lawyer will determine if your case qualifies for exemptions to these deadlines. Even the case is strong it could be dismissed if the statute of limitations has run out. To ensure that your lawsuit is filed in time, it's important to speak with an New Mexico attorney for birth injury as early as you can.
Prepare for birth injury attorney fort collins of preparing for trial begins much before the trial date, when legal teams survey the evidence and establish their theory of the trial. Then, they must determine the witnesses and prepare questions for them. They will also have to compile all the evidence that will be used in the trial. They will also have to prepare jury instructions. All of this preparation is critical for presenting a successful claim and winning compensation for victims.
A birth injury that is caused by a medical mistake can be life-altering for the family. Children who suffer from such injuries will require medical treatment and treatment for the rest of their lives. Families may require financial assistance to cover the cost of therapies or treatments as well as specialized equipment. A skilled New Mexico birth injury attorney can assist families in obtaining financial compensation that can pay for these requirements.
To file a lawsuit for birth injury, a family must prove that the medical professional did not provide the treatment that a reasonable medical professional in similar circumstances would have given. Medical malpractice is what it is. To prove medical malpractice, the injured party needs to establish four elements that include breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Many of the medical errors that result in birth injuries are based on simple errors, like the wrong diagnosis or inadequate treatment for prenatal complications. Certain are more complicated such as shoulder dystocia, which could result in total or partial arm paralysis. In some instances birth injuries, they only become evident later in childhood when the child is unable to complete developmental milestones.
It is essential to speak with a birth injury lawyer as soon as possible after the injury, or the initial statute limitations (SOL) will run out. There are exceptions to the SOL which may prolong the time frame for filing a suit. An experienced birth injury lawyer can provide specific SOLs applicable to your situation and suggest an appropriate time frame for filing a lawsuit.
Birth injuries typically involve expert testimony to establish that the doctor's treatment fell below the standard of care they provide in their specialization. A qualified medical malpractice firm like Miller Weisbrod Olesky is able to work with highly-regarded experts around the country to establish these facts in the case of a birth injury.
Making a Claim
If a birth injury occurs it can cause permanent and life-altering damages to the child parents, child, and family members. A successful lawsuit could result in compensation for medical expenses and income loss as well as pain and suffering. It could also cover the cost of specific therapies and equipment. A successful claim will require an expert medical opinion that proves the doctor, the nurse, or any other healthcare professional did not fulfill their duty of care and caused the child's injuries.
A New Mexico birth injury attorney can assist families to obtain the justice they deserve by filing a lawsuit against the accountable medical provider or healthcare facility. It is crucial to understand that medical malpractice claims are subject to strict statutes of limitations. An attorney can look over the specifics of the case and determine the time when the statute of limitation began to expire so that legal action can be taken before the statute of limitations expires.
In certain instances, a doctor can be held liable for a birth injury even if the medical error did not occur at the time of delivery. This type of negligence can result from an inability to diagnose the maternal condition, or by incorrectly using forceps to deliver the baby, or even a failed Caesarean.
Birth injuries can also be the result of a absence or prolonged labor. A New Mexico birth injury lawyer can examine the facts of a case to determine potential responsible parties, including doctors, nurses, and hospitals. Often the lawsuits are filed against the hospital where the negligent healthcare professional was employed.
It is not uncommon for a defendant to argue that there could be other causes for the baby's injuries, such as birth defects or fetal developmental issues. A New Mexico birth injuries attorney can assist the family of the victim to counter this argument by establishing there was evidence of medical malpractice and that the actions of the doctor and his inaction directly led in the child's injury.
A New Mexico birth injury lawyer at Miller Weisbrod Olesky can investigate the case and hire one or more expert medical witnesses to establish that a healthcare provider's decision or failure to act fell short of the standard of care in a similar circumstance and resulted in the child's injuries. A successful case could result in compensation for past and future medical expenses, lost income, pain and discomfort, and other damages.