Parents Sue Doctors for Birth Injuries Caused by Negligence
By Amanda Antell
Recent litigation has revealed a terrifying new trend: birth injuries caused by medical malpractice. Medical malpractice lawyers around the country are working with thousands of parents to get compensation for their child’s medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other financial damages. Overview of Birth Injury Lawsuits
Medical malpractice occur when a doctor, hospital, or other medical staff acts negligently by failing to use reasonable care and precautions during childbirth, which injures the child. A birth injury lawyer will try to help a parent seek damages for the following types of injuries:
- Injury to infant: If an infant is injured by a doctor, the parents must file the birth injury lawsuit on behalf of their child. They must show documentation of the infant’s injury and provide expert eye-witness testimony.
- Injury to mother: The mother can bring a claim for medical malpractice if the doctor’s decisions caused her pain before the child’s birth or made her suffer additionally during the birth. She must provide documentation and expert eye-witness testimony – items that a birth injury lawyer will help her obtain.
- Wrongful Birth: In a wrongful birth lawsuit, parents seek damages for a child born with birth defects. The claim for damages is based on the cost to parents of raising a child with unexpected birth defects.
In cases where there is a wrongful birth, parents typically allege that the doctor who had been monitoring the pregnancy knew or should have known about the likelihood of their unborn child developing birth defects. Due to the fact that these patients are relying on the medical expertise of their physician, they would have no reason to doubt their baby would be anything but healthy. Since the doctor did not warn them, the parents did not have the option of ending the pregnancy when it was their right to choose to or not.
Doctors are typically brought under question for the following medical malpractice allegations:
- Inadequate genetic testing before the child was conceived; and
- Failure to detect mental or physical impairments in the pregnancy’s early stages.
Cerebral Palsy Malpractice
It is important to note that malpractice birth injury lawsuits are not just about correcting wrongful actions, but to also receive justice for the child who carries the consequence of that malpractice. One of the most common birth injuries from malpractice is cerebral palsy, which many medical experts believe is caused by an insufficient amount of oxygen going to the infant’s brain during childbirth.
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that hinders the body’s muscle coordination. Cerebral palsy occurs in approximately 2/1,000 births in the United States and Europe. If Cerebral palsy in a child was caused by a medical negligence, it is typically from a delayed reaction to delivering the baby from the mother.
The three most common types of cerebral palsy are:
- Spastic cerebral palsy: This makes up for approximately 80% of all cerebral palsy cases. This variation of Cerebral palsy is characterized by stiffness and difficulty moving due to the inability to use specific muscle groups. Patients with this variation of cerebral palsy have difficulty moving and holding and releasing objects.
- Athetoid cerebral palsy: Approximately 10% of cerebral palsy cases are this variation. This form of cerebral palsy is characterized by involuntary movement, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, inability to maintain posture, and low muscle tone.
- Ataxic cerebral palsy: Making up the remaining 10% of cerebral palsy cases, this variation is characterized by depth perception problems, distorted sense of balance, tremors, and difficulty with coordinated muscle movements.
File a Malpractice Birth Injury Lawsuit Today
Currently, there are thousands of parents across the United States filing malpractice birth injury lawsuits for the suffering their child had to endure. Parents who believe that their child may have been subjected to a medical malpractice decision and endured birth injuries from it are encouraged to seek legal consultation immediately.
Learn more about your rights at the Medical Malpractice Birth Injury Lawsuit Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. There, you can submit your claim for a free legal review and if it qualifies for legal action, a seasoned birth injury lawyer will contact you for a free, no-obligation consultation. You will be guided through the litigation process at no out-of-pocket expenses or hidden fees. The birth injury lawyers working this investigation do not get paid until you do.
All medical device, dangerous drug and medical class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Drug and Medical Device section of Top Class Actions.
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