Every day in the United States, a family experiences a birth injury due to medical malpractice. When a medical professional fails to exercise reasonable professional care during a childbirth procedure, the mother and the infant both face risks of extreme or even fatal injury. If your family recently experienced any type of birth injury, call our firm to learn how a San Diego birth injury attorney can assist you.
The most often used method of securing compensation from a birth injury is a medical malpractice lawsuit. This is functionally similar to a personal injury lawsuit with some key differences that potential plaintiffs should know. Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates wants potential clients to understand what to expect from a birth injury claim filed in San Diego.
What Is a Birth Injury Lawsuit?
A birth injury lawsuit will fall under the purview of California’s medical malpractice laws. If your child suffered any type of birth injury due to negligent medical care, call our firm. Your San Diego birth injury lawyer will help you prove fault for the injury and establish the full scope of your claimable damages.
Like any other medical malpractice claim, birth injury claims hinge on the concept of the “standard of care” for the given situation. Medical professionals must uphold the standard of care for a patient’s condition and follow accepted procedures to ensure patient safety at all times. Success with a birth injury claim hinges on the plaintiff’s ability to prove that the defendant named in the lawsuit did not meet the standard of care the situation demanded. In other words, the plaintiff needs to prove that another similarly skilled doctor in the same situation would have acted differently from the defendant.
Proving Fault in a Birth Injury Lawsuit
While proving a standard of care violation may seem simple enough, the reality is that medicine is an inherently uncertain field. There is an unavoidable margin of error in many medical procedures, including childbirth. Some birth injuries and other medical injuries are not the results of negligence but rather unavoidable and unpredictable variables that even the most skilled doctors could not anticipate. Most medical malpractice claims must pass through a formal review process, typically conducted by the medical board with professional jurisdiction over the defendant named in a claim.
This board review will analyze the elements of the plaintiff’s birth injury claim to determine whether there are solid grounds on which to allege medical negligence. If so, the claimant will receive a Notice of Right to Sue, allowing them to proceed with their civil case against a defendant. An experienced San Diego birth injury lawyer can be incredibly helpful in navigating the early case building and review phases of a birth injury claim.
Settlement Vs. Litigation
The majority of medical malpractice claims are settled outside of court. It is typically in any medical organization’s best interests to settle birth injury claims as quickly and quietly as possible. Claimants should know what to expect from these situations, as settlement negotiations involving a powerful medical care company’s legal team could be very intimidating. Hospitals and healthcare organizations often have powerful in-house legal counsel, so you must have reliable legal representation on your side before entering any type of settlement negotiation with a defendant in a birth injury claim.
If a defendant contests their liability, or the defendant’s behavior was criminally negligent, settlement may not be possible. Medical malpractice claims that move to litigation can be incredibly challenging experiences for everyone involved. The plaintiff’s attorney will likely arrange expert witness testimony to assist their client in proving that a birth injury occurred due to negligence and establishing the full range of their damages.
Finding Legal Counsel for a Birth Injury Claim
Birth injuries are devastating incidents for families. They can entail uncertain medical complications for the victim, substantial economic losses for the family, and tremendous emotional pain and suffering for everyone involved. If your family has experienced a birth injury that you believe was avoidable, you could have grounds for a medical malpractice claim against the party responsible for causing it.
Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates can provide the compassionate and responsive legal counsel your family needs after a birth injury. We know how crushing these experiences can be for families and do everything in our firm’s power to maximize our clients’ recoveries. If you are unsure of your legal options after a birth injury, we can help you make sense of the legal proceedings you’re sure to face in the near future. Contact Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates today to schedule a case evaluation from a San Diego birth injury attorney.