Birth Injury Lawyer in Queens, NY
Experienced Queens Birth Injury Lawyer Fighting for the Rights of Victims and Families Suffering Due to Birth Injuries
The birth of children should be a joyous occasion. However, in too many cases, negligence during delivery leaves a child with injuries that can last a lifetime. When this happens, the family may face extraordinary expenses, along with the emotional pain of knowing that the child’s injuries were preventable.
Medical malpractice insurers know how distraught and desperate parents can be after their child suffers a birth injury. Insurance companies have a financial interest in minimizing the amount they pay out for claims and they will sometimes use tactics to pressure families into settling for much less than they are entitled to receive.
Shaevitz & Shaevitz Law Offices can provide you with a birth injury attorney. Our experienced and skilled lawyers can negotiate a settlement or litigate against your medical providers to get fair compensation for your child’s birth injuries.
How Can A Birth Injury Lawyer Help?
A birth injury attorney practices personal injury law but has a special interest in helping families after medical malpractice has caused an injury during, or soon after, delivery. Some of the ways an injury lawyer can help include:
Evaluating your case: Proving medical malpractice requires evidence, such as medical records, expert opinions, and witness statements. A lawyer who is familiar with birth injury cases can evaluate the strength of your case as well as the damages you might expect.
Negotiating with insurers: In a typical birth injury case, your lawyer writes to the medical providers to inform them of the malpractice claim. The medical providers then work with their malpractice insurers to respond to your lawyer’s letter. Before filing a lawsuit, a lawyer will likely negotiate with the insurers to try to settle the case. Lawyers have the experience and knowledge to navigate the pressure tactics insurers use to minimize settlements.
Litigating against medical providers: When a settlement cannot be reached, an injury lawyer gathers the evidence to persuade a jury of the medical providers’ negligence and obtain a damages award that will compensate your child for the injuries suffered during birth.
Entities that Might Be Involved in a Birth Injury Case
Birth injuries can happen in many ways. To establish liability for an injury to your child, a lawyer must identify the ways in which the medical care provided to you and your child was deficient. Substandard care can arise from many sources including:
Hospitals: Improper training, poor sanitation, or risky policies can result in injuries to your child before, during, or immediately after delivery.
Doctors: Your OB-GYN, anesthesiologist, or other physician can commit a medical error while treating you or your child that results in a birth injury.
Nurses: When nurses fail to provide reasonable care to you or your child, they are responsible for injuries that occur.
Midwife: Parents who choose a midwife for their delivery can hold the midwife responsible for any birth injuries that result from unreasonable care.
Common Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can take many different forms. Some result from treatment provided to the mother before or during delivery. For example, anesthesia provided to the mother during the birth can affect the child.
Other birth injuries arise from medical mistakes during birth. Thus, if a medical provider fails to clear the umbilical cord during delivery, the child could suffer injuries from a lack of oxygen.
Finally, some birth injuries arise after birth. An infection or a mix-up in medications are examples of birth injuries that occur because of medical care provided to the child.
Some common birth injuries include:
Cerebral palsy: Although this neurological condition can occur through no fault of a medical provider, some cases result from medical malpractice. If a child’s brain is deprived of oxygen during birth due to blood loss, asphyxiation, or pressure on the umbilical cord, the child can develop cerebral palsy.
Broken bones: During delivery, a medical provider may break bones, such as a collarbone, by manipulating the child in the birth canal or through rough handling after birth.
Nerve damage: Pressure or pulling forces on the baby, either manually or through forceps, can cause permanent nerve damage, particularly in the face or arms. Examples of nerve damage birth injuries include brachial plexus damage and Erb’s palsy.
Damages Arising from Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can lead to permanent or chronic conditions. Some of the damages that a birth injury lawyer might seek for a birth injury include:
Medical expenses: Out of pocket payments for medical treatment, medical equipment, and modifications to your home are a direct result of the medical mistake and can be asserted as damages.
Ongoing therapy costs: If the birth injury requires lifelong physical or mental therapy, these expenses can be included as part of your damages.
Lost earning capacity: A child’s birth injury could cause permanent disability that prevents the child from ever working or diminishes the child’s earning potential.
Pain and suffering: If the birth injury results in a painful condition for the child, damages can include compensation for the child’s suffering.
A birth injury claim is brought by the parents on behalf of the child. However, the parents also suffer damages that can be claimed against the medical provider. For example, parents of children who are injured at birth might suffer from emotional distress that requires mental health counseling.
Dealing with Medical Malpractice Insurers
Your birth injury attorney is the point of contact with the malpractice carriers for your medical providers. This frees you up from the tactics that insurance companies use to manipulate you so they can cut down the size of any settlement check. Some tactics insurance companies use include:
Pressure: Insurance companies know that you need money. Your child may require further medical treatment to fix the medical mistake and therapy to try to mitigate the child’s condition. You might also require time off from work to deal with your child’s health. Insurers use this desperation to pressure you into settling for far less than your case is worth. A birth injury attorney, however, can evaluate a case and ensure that your settlement fairly reflects your damages.
Shifting blame: Insurers will use any misstatement or minor fact to shift blame away from the medical provider and onto you. Muddying the waters can help them reduce or even avoid paying a claim. However, a birth injury lawyer can present a case that accurately reflects the medical provider’s responsibility for your child’s injuries.
Delay: Insurers know that time is your enemy. While you wait for your case to settle or go to trial, your expenses will accumulate. As a result, insurers will often use delay to force you to settle. An injury attorney can keep a case moving along and, if the insurance company is unwilling to make a fair settlement offer, file a lawsuit to put the pressure back onto the insurer.
Schedule A Free Consultation With a Birth injury Lawyer at Shaevitz & Shaevitz
When your child is injured, you will do everything possible to help your child. Hiring a birth injury attorney can ensure that your child has resources to pay for medical care and replace lost earnings for the rest of the child’s life.
Call Shaevitz & Shaevitz Law Offices at 718-291-3400 or 718-LAW-SUIT or contact us online for a free legal consultation to discuss your case. We are a law firm in Queens, New York with over 65 years of experience with birth injuries and other personal injury cases.