The Work of a New Mexico Birth Injury Attorney
Unfortunately, many medical mistakes during the delivery process can cause serious birth injuries for infants. These injuries can result in an entire life of medical costs and treatment which drain families' funds.
Like all malpractice claims, birth injury cases need to prove that the medical professional breached their obligation to provide reasonable medical care. This is a complicated undertaking.
Prepare a Claim
The legal process of a birth injury claim begins with a 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. An experienced attorney will be able to find the most important evidence, and also collect documents that can be used to support your claim.
The attorney will also work with one or more medical experts to establish that the doctor did not meet the standard of care that should be expected of a medical professional in the same field. An expert can help the jurors comprehend how the doctor's failure to act or his actions resulted in the injuries of your child.
If the medical expert can prove that the doctor's negligence caused your child's injuries the next step would be to determine what damages your child is entitled to. This includes future and past medical expenses and lost earnings over a lifetime, as well as suffering and pain.
You could be entitled to damages for punitive or exemplary depending on the severity of the injuries your child sustained. These additional damages are intended to punish the medical professional for their recklessness 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 occur at any time during the pregnancy but are more likely to occur during labor and delivery. Medical malpractice can lead to serious and long-lasting injuries for both the mother and the child.
The most frequent birth injuries are shoulder dystocia, brain damage, spinal cord injuries, and Erb's paralysis. Erb's palsy is a type of nerve damage that results in partial or total paralysis of the arm, and is typically caused by injury to the brachial plexus in delivery. Often the condition can be prevented with proper treatment and intervention.
New Mexico law has strict statutes that limit the amount of time you must make a claim for medical negligence. Your attorney will determine if your case is eligible to be exempt from these deadlines. If the statutes of limitations have expired the case will be dismissed, even if you have a strong case. It is critical to speak with a New Mexico birth injury attorney as soon as possible to ensure timely filing of your lawsuit.
Prepare for the trial
The process of preparing for a trial starts much earlier than the actual trial date, as the legal teams review the evidence and establish their theories of the trial. They must then determine the witnesses and prepare their evidence. They should also prepare all exhibits to be used in the trial. They must also prepare jury instructions. All of this preparation is crucial to presenting a successful claim and obtaining a fair amount of compensation for the victims.
A birth injury that is caused by a medical error could cause a profound impact on families. Children who suffer from such injuries require medical attention and care for the rest of their lives. Families may require financial aid to pay for therapy, treatments, and specialized equipment. A skilled New Mexico birth injuries attorney can help families obtain the compensation needed to cover these costs.
To file a lawsuit for birth injury, a family has to show that the doctor or medical professional didn't provide the kind of care that a reasonable medical professional in similar circumstances would have provided. Medical malpractice is what it is. To prove this, the victim must prove four elements: duty of care, breach of this duty, causation, and damages.
Many of the medical mistakes that cause birth injuries are caused by simple errors, like the wrong diagnosis or inadequate treatment for prenatal complications. Other complications are more complicated such as shoulder dystocia, which is an issue that can cause total or partial arm paralysis. Some birth injuries are only apparent after childhood, when children begin to miss developmental milestones.
It is essential to speak with a birth injury lawyer as soon as you can 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 lawsuit. A skilled lawyer for birth injuries can explain the SOLs that apply to your situation and suggest a timeline for filing a suit.
Expert testimony is usually required to prove that the doctor's treatment fell below the standard for their field of expertise. A qualified medical malpractice firm such as Miller Weisbrod Olesky is able to work with highly-regarded experts around the country to establish these facts in an injury claim involving birth.
Making a Claim
A birth injury can have a lasting and life-altering impact on the child, parents, and family. A successful claim could offer compensation for future and current medical expenses, income loss as well as pain and suffering. It may also help cover the costs of equipment and therapies that are specialized. birth injury attorney denver will require expert medical testimony proving that the doctor, the nurse or any other healthcare provider did not fulfill their duty of care and caused the child’s injuries.
A New Mexico birth injury attorney can assist families in obtaining justice by filing a lawsuit against the responsible medical professionals or the healthcare facility. However, it is important to be aware that medical malpractice claims are subject to strict statutes of limitation. A lawyer can review details of the case to determine when the statute started to run, so that legal action can be taken before the statute expires.
In some instances doctors can be held accountable for a birth injury even if the medical error occurred during the time of birth. This kind of negligence could be due to the delay in diagnosing or treating a maternal problem or a mishap with forceps during delivery or a failed Caesarean section.
A birth injury can also be caused by a insufficient or prolonged labor. A New Mexico birth injury lawyer will review the details of a case to identify the parties who could be responsible, such as nurses, doctors, and hospitals. These lawsuits are often filed against the institution where the negligent healthcare professional was employed.
It is not uncommon for the defendant, or their attorney, to assert that there may be other reasons for the baby's injuries. These could be genetic problems or fetal developmental issues. A New Mexico birth injuries attorney can help the victim's family fight this argument by proving there was evidence of medical malpractice, and that the actions of the doctor and his inaction directly led in the child's injury.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a New Mexico birth injury attorney will investigate the case. They can also employ one or more medical experts to prove that the healthcare provider's actions or inactions fall short of the standard of care for similar situations. This is what caused the child's injuries. A successful case could result in the payment of past and future medical expenses and lost income, as well as discomfort and pain, as well as other damages.