The Work of a New Mexico Birth Injury Attorney
Unfortunately, many medical mistakes in the delivery room cause serious birth injuries in newborns. These injuries can cause an entire life of medical bills and care that drain families' budgets.
Birth injury claims require the same proof as other malpractice claims. The medical professional must have acted in breach of their duty to provide a reasonable medical treatment. This is a complicated task.
Create a Claim
The legal process in a birth injury case begins with a thorough examination of your child's medical records. These documents may contain valuable evidence that proves that the doctor was negligent. A qualified lawyer will be able to identify key pieces of evidence and gather documents that you can use to support your claim.
The attorney will also work with one or more medical experts to establish that the doctor fell below the standards of care that would be expected from a medical professional in the same field. Using an expert will help the jury understand how the doctor's actions, or inaction led to your child's injuries.
If a medical professional can establish that negligence by the doctor caused the injuries to your child, the next step will be to determine what damages your child is entitled to. This includes future and past medical expenses as well as lost earnings throughout a lifetime and pain and suffering.
You could be entitled to punitive damages or exemplary damages in proportion to the severity of the injuries sustained by your child. These additional damages are designed to penalize the at-fault medical professional for their carelessness or negligence and discourage others from committing the same actions.
Many birth injuries are caused by medical errors during the delivery of the baby. These errors can happen anytime during pregnancy however they are most likely to occur during the labor and delivery. If a medical professional is guilty of malpractice, they can cause serious and lasting injuries to both the mother and child.
Some of the most common types of birth injuries include shoulder dystocia, brain damage, spinal cord injuries, and Erb's palsy. Erb's Palsy is one of the forms of nerve damage that results in arm paralysis. It is usually caused by trauma in the delivery of the brachial plexus. The condition is usually preventable by the proper treatment and intervention.
New Mexico law has strict statutes of limitations that dictate an imposed time limit within which you can make a claim for medical malpractice. Your lawyer will determine if your case is eligible to be exempt from these deadlines. Even if your case is strong it could be dismissed if the statute of limitations has expired. To ensure that your lawsuit is filed in time, it is essential to contact a New Mexico attorney for birth injury as soon as you can.
Preparing for trial
The preparation for trial begins much ahead of the trial date, as the legal teams review the evidence and develop their theory of the trial. They must then identify all witnesses and prepare questions for them. They will also have to compile all exhibits to be used in the trial. They also have to prepare jury instructions. All of this preparation is crucial for presenting a successful claim and obtaining a fair amount of compensation for victims.
Birth injuries caused by an error by a medical professional can have life-altering consequences for the entire family. Children who suffer from these injuries require a lifetime of medical care and treatments. Families may need financial assistance to cover the cost of therapies as well as treatments and equipment. A skilled New Mexico birth injuries attorney can help families obtain compensation to cover these expenses.
In order to file a lawsuit for birth injury, a family must demonstrate that the medical provider did not provide the care that a reasonable medical professional in similar circumstances would have provided. This is known as medical malpractice. To prove medical malpractice, the victim needs to establish four elements such as breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Many of the medical errors that result in birth injuries are caused by simple mistakes, such as the wrong diagnosis or inadequate treatment for prenatal complications. Some are more complex such as shoulder dystocia, which could result in total or partial arm paralysis. In some cases birth injuries are only evident later in childhood when the child begins missing developmental milestones.
It is important to contact a birth injury lawyer as soon as you can after the injury, or the initial statute of limitations (SOL) will run out. There are however some exceptions to the SOL which can prolong the time required to file an action. washington birth injury attorney will 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 establish that the doctor's treatment fell below the standards of care in their field. A qualified medical malpractice firm like Miller Weisbrod Olesky is able to work with highly-respected experts across the country to prove these facts in the case of a birth injury.
How to Claim a Claim?
A birth injury can cause a permanent and life-altering impact on a child, parents, and family. A successful claim can offer compensation for current and future medical expenses, income loss, and suffering and pain. It could also help pay for the cost of specialized equipment and therapies. A successful claim will require expert medical testimony proving that the doctor, nurse, or any other healthcare professional violated their duty to care and caused the child's injuries.
A New Mexico birth injury attorney can assist families in obtaining the justice they deserve by making a claim against responsible medical professionals or the healthcare facility. However, it is important to be aware that medical malpractice claims are subject to strict statutes of limitations. A lawyer can review details of the case to determine when the statute began to run in order that legal action can be taken before it expires.
In some instances doctors can be held liable for birth injuries, even if the medical error occurred during the time of birth. This type of negligence can be caused by a delay in diagnosing a maternal condition or improperly using forceps to deliver the baby or even a failed Caesarean.
Other causes of a birth injury are an insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain during labor or a prolonged labor. A New Mexico birth-injury lawyer can analyze the case's details to identify possible responsible parties, such as nurses, doctors or hospitals. These lawsuits are often filed against the hospital where the negligent healthcare professional was employed.
It is not uncommon for a defendant to argue that there are other possible causes for the baby's injuries, such as genetic defects or fetal developmental issues. A New Mexico birth injuries attorney can assist the family of the victim counter this argument, by proving that there was evidence of medical malpractice and the professional's actions and inaction directly resulted in the child's injuries.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a New Mexico birth injury attorney is able to examine the case. They may also hire one or more medical experts to determine that the healthcare provider's actions or inactions fell short of the standard of care for a similar circumstance. This is what led to the child's injuries. A successful claim could result in compensation for future and past medical costs, lost income, discomfort and pain, and other damages.