The Work of a New Mexico Birth Injury Attorney
Unfortunately, many medical mistakes during delivery can lead to serious birth injuries in newborns. These injuries can result in a lifetime of medical bills and care that drain families' budgets.
Like all malpractice claims, birth injuries must prove that the medical professional breached their duty to provide reasonable medical treatment. This is a difficult task.
Preparing a Claim
The legal process for a birth injury claim begins with a thorough examination of the medical records of your child. These documents contain a wealth of information that may prove the doctor acted negligently. A competent attorney can determine the most crucial evidence and also gather other documents that can be used to back your claim.
The attorney will also collaborate with one or more medical experts to establish that the doctor did not adhere to the standards of care expected by a professional in the same field. Using an expert will help the jury understand the reasons why the doctor's actions or inaction led to the injuries your child sustained.
If a medical professional can prove that the doctor's negligence caused the injuries to your child the next step would be to determine the damages your child is entitled to. This includes future and past medical expenses, lost earnings throughout life and pain and suffering.
Based on the severity of your child's injuries, you could be legally entitled to damages for punitive or exemplary injuries. These additional damages are intended to penalize the medical professional responsible for their extreme negligence or disregard and discourage others from acting in the same way.
Medical errors made during the delivery of a child are responsible for a variety of birth injuries. These mistakes can occur at any time during the pregnancy, but are more likely to occur during labor and birth. Medical malpractice can result in permanent and serious injuries to both mother and child.
Erb's palsy, shoulder dystocia, and brain damage are a few of the most commonly occurring birth injuries. Erb's Palsy is a kind of nerve damage that causes partial or complete arm paralysis, and is usually caused by injury to the brachial nerve plexus during the birth. The condition can be prevented with the right treatment and intervention.
New Mexico law has strict statutes of limitations that impose the time frame within which you are able to make a claim for medical malpractice. Your lawyer will determine if your case is eligible for an exception to these deadlines. Even if birth injury attorney near me is strong the case will be dismissed when the statute of limitations has expired. To ensure that your lawsuit is filed in time, it is important to get in touch with an New Mexico attorney for birth injury as early as you can.
Prepare for Trial
Preparation for a trial begins prior to the trial date itself, as the legal teams analyze the evidence and form their theories. They then must identify all witnesses and prepare their questions. They must also compile all exhibits to be used in the trial. They must also prepare jury instructions. All of this is essential to make a claim that is successful and secure compensation for the victims.
A birth injury caused by a medical mistake can cause a profound impact on the family. Children who suffer from injuries like this require a lifetime of medical care and services. Families may need help paying for treatments, therapies and specialized equipment. An experienced New Mexico birth injury attorney can assist families in obtaining financial compensation that can pay for these expenses.
To file a birth injury lawsuit, a family must prove that their medical provider or doctor did not provide the kind of care that reasonable medical professionals would have provided under similar circumstances. Medical malpractice is what it is. To prove this, the injured party must prove four elements that include duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, as well as damages.
Many medical mistakes that cause birth injuries are simple errors like misdiagnosis or improper treatment of prenatal issues. Some are more complex, like shoulder dystocia which could result in total or partial arm paralysis. In some instances birth injuries, they only become apparent later in childhood, as the child is unable to complete developmental milestones.
Contacting a lawyer for birth injuries as early as you can after the injury is crucial as otherwise, the initial statute of limitations (SOL) could expire. However, there are some exceptions to the SOL that can prolong the time to file a lawsuit. A skilled birth injury attorney will explain the specific SOLs applicable to your situation and suggest the appropriate timeframe for filing an action.
Expert testimony is usually required to demonstrate that the doctor's care 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 prove these facts in the case of a birth injury.
Making a Claim
When a birth injury occurs, it can cause permanent and life-altering damages to the child parents, child, and family. A successful claim could pay for future and present medical expenses, loss of income, and suffering and pain. It can 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 responsible medical provider or healthcare facility. It is important to note that medical malpractice claims have strict statutes. A lawyer can review details of the case to determine when the statute began to run, so that legal action can be taken before it expires.
In some instances doctors may be held accountable for birth injuries, even if medical negligence wasn't present during the time of birth. This kind of negligence could result from a delay in diagnosing a maternal condition or not properly using forceps to deliver the baby or even an unsuccessful Caesarean.
Other causes of birth injury could be a lack of oxygen to the brain during labor or a prolonged labor. A New Mexico birth injury lawyer can review the facts of a case to identify possible responsible parties, which could include doctors, nurses, and hospitals. Most often, these lawsuits are brought against the hospital in which the healthcare professional who was negligent was employed.
It is not unusual for the defendant or their lawyer to assert that there are other reasons for the injuries suffered by a baby. These could be genetic problems or issues with fetal development. A New Mexico birth injuries attorney can help the victim's family counter this argument, by proving there was evidence of medical malpractice and that the actions of the doctor and his inaction directly resulted in the child's injury.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a New Mexico birth injury attorney is able to investigate the situation. They can also employ one or more medical experts to determine that the healthcare provider's actions or inactions fall below the standard care for similar situations. This is what caused the child's injuries. A successful case could result in compensation for future and past medical costs as well as lost income, pain and discomfort, and other damages.