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This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.
Nothing hurts parents more than when their children are injured or hurt in any way. And when the child is a newborn, and the effects can very well be permanent, it’s even worse. Unless the situation is special and the child develops issues later in life, as a result of a traumatic birth, parents only have a few short months to gather proof and file a lawsuit. So here is a handy guide on what you need to prove birth injuries.
Medical records
You will need these before you even start the case, because, without the records, you have no evidence that the injuries you sustained are in any way related to a hospital or to giving birth. Ask your Ob-Gyn to release them as soon as you suspect something might be wrong, just to save time later on. The goal of medical records is to prove four things, each with its own relevance to your case, otherwise, the hospital may be able to get the court to dismiss your case.
You were there
You need to have hospital records to prove that you were actually present in the hospital and that you were giving birth at that moment. This is the basic requirement for any malpractice lawsuit, in fact, because it is the first step in establishing a chain of accountability. Without any medical record, such as a sign-in form at least, from a legal point of view, you never existed in the hospital and therefore cannot file a lawsuit against the hospital that mistreated you. Simply put, because you are making the accusation, the burden of proof is on you, and you need to first prove you were where you claim you were.
You were under someone’s care
Medical records also serve as a quick way to establish who was looking after you, both doctors and nurses. Once a doctor signs your chart, anything that happens to you as a result of their treatment or lack thereof is their responsibility. You may be filing a lawsuit against the hospital, the department, or a single physician, but whatever the context, medical records serve as proof you were under the care of the defendant. As a result, duty of care can be established and analyzed, to see what actually happened and if anyone is to blame.
They failed their duty of care
So far, you needed to prove the presence of both yourself as the plaintiff and of the defendant at the so-called scene. Now your medical records will be analyzed by expert witnesses and a medical committee, who will decide if at any point, the defendant has failed in their duty of care. This is where the case is out of your hands, so to speak. It may come out that the physician(s) did everything in their power to keep you and your child safe and acted according to medical principles and the state law. However, in most cases, some human error intervened, and someone has partially or totally failed their duty of care.
The result was injury
Only after failure in the duty of care was established, the question of proving birth injury can be addressed. First, the extent of the injury must be determined. At this moment, what matters is facts, still found in your medical records, not the impact they have on your life. Next, it must be that the injuries you or your child sustained are the direct result of the failed duty of care previously proven. Only after all four of these steps are completed, with the help of your medical records, do you have a true birth injury case.
A good lawyer
Of course, you need a lawyer to advise you and tell you if you have enough evidence to even start a legal pursuit. But once you have a case, you will need to be able to trust your lawyer to fight your corner, tooth and nail. This is why Chalik & Chalik Injury Lawyers is a great choice of legal representative: they are specialized in injury and birth injury, and their policy ensures they will make sure you win, if that is possible.
Assessment for you and your child
If the birth injury sustained has any long-term impact on your life, you are also entitled to pain and suffering compensation. For you, it is easier to bring arguments as to how a birth injury has impacted your life, because you can always compare your life before to the one you will lead after. For a newborn though, you will need medical assessment to estimate what kind of limitations the child will have and how much they will impact their quality of life. It is necessary to get an assessment, in order to be able to determine how much compensation you are entitled to.
Bottom line
Keep in mind that both the parent and the child can be hurt by birth injuries. Bring through proof, trust in your lawyer, and keep heart! Justice will be done eventually. And if you think you need more information, keep an eye out for articles and subscribe to the newsletter!
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