Philadelphia Birth Injury Lawyer

birth injuries
birth injuries

A birth injury can turn what should be a joyful occasion into a medical crisis with devastating financial implications. Common birth injuries like cerebral palsy are almost always entirely preventable with proper monitoring and medical care during birth. These injuries usually result when doctors, nurses, or other medical staff are negligent in providing care. Birth injuries are particularly tragic because they dramatically impact the rest of the child’s life. A condition like a brain injury caused by a traumatic birth will not only cause ongoing stress for the parents but can require enormous future expenses for necessary medical treatment.

Birth Injuries Caused by Medical Negligence

If you believe your child’s injuries resulted from medical negligence, a birth injury lawyer from Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C. can investigate your case. Before filing a lawsuit, we will get answers about what happened to your family. Then, we take into account not only your past damages but all future expenses as well. This includes future medical treatments as well as any necessary changes to your home and more. We have extensive experience handling birth injury cases for clients throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and nationwide. In one case, we helped our clients reach a settlement of $8.9 million on behalf of a child who suffered a brain injury due to lack of oxygen during birth. We have successfully handled many birth injury cases for our clients; contact us today to see how we can help your family with a birth injury lawsuit.

Medical Malpractice During Childbirth

Although childbirth often requires quick decision-making by medical personnel, negligence is never acceptable. Typically, you have grounds to file a medical malpractice suit if the doctor, nurse, midwife, or medical practitioner:

  • Chose a medically inappropriate course of treatment
  • Failed to exercise proper skill or care during the delivery

It is also important to know that any medical personnel assisting during childbirth must meet the “Medical Standard of Care.” This is a legal concept that requires a doctor, nurse, or midwife to act as any other similarly skilled practitioner would under like circumstances. If a medical practitioner fails to meet this standard, then that action (or inaction) can be considered malpractice.

Injuries during childbirth are in news reports daily; read more from our attorneys on childbirth facts and statistics.

How Do You Prove Negligence in a Birth Injury Case?

Proving that a healthcare provider’s negligence caused a birth injury is key to a malpractice claim. You must be able to establish a connection between the negligence and the injury; without that connection, it will be impossible to prove your case.

For plaintiffs to receive compensation for their damages, they must prove these four elements:

  1. A doctor-patient relationship existed.
  2. The doctor breached his/her duty of care.
  3. The breach of care resulted in patient’s harm.
  4. The patient suffered specific damages.

The doctor’s negligence and the harm resulting from the negligence are at the center of most birth injury claims. Determining whether a doctor acted negligently during labor and delivery comes down to comparing their actions with what a reasonably careful physician, with similar expertise, would have done in the same situation. Typically, plaintiffs use expert witness testimony to prove this element during a case. Pennsylvania courts require expert testimony except in rare cases where it is unnecessary to pursue the claim.

The first step toward seeking the full and fair compensation you deserve in a birth injury case involves identifying the doctor or healthcare worker’s negligence as the cause of injury. Our lawyers can explain the elements of proof needed to show who was responsible for the birth injury. Our attorneys can also collect all the evidence required to build a strong case.

Filing A Claim For an Injury at Birth

To file a birth injury lawsuit, you must be able to prove:

  1. Negligence – this means proving that the doctor acted in a way that another qualified doctor would not have under similar circumstances.
  2. Causation – you must prove that the negligence was the direct cause of the birth injury.
  3. Harm – you must prove that the health care provider’s negligence or carelessness caused damages. Doctors sometimes make mistakes that do not cause harm. You may only file a lawsuit if you incur damages from the healthcare provider’s negligence.

BUSINESS INFORMATION
Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg, & Jeck, P.C.
1634 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA, 19103
Phone: (215) 585-2814
Email: info@erlegal.com