What You Need to Know Before Filing a Birth Injury Lawsuit

Posted by Digital_Zone on June 26th, 2024

In the event that you suspect that your child was a victim of medical negligence, committed at a healthcare facility during his birth, you need to contact St. Louis Birth Injury Attorneys to see if there clearly was indeed a malpractice causing birth injuries. However, before your lawyer can file a birth injury lawsuit, below are a few items that need to happen:

The case should be started timely

Every case filed in court should be started inside an applicable statute of limitations in order to survive from being dismissed. In New York the applicable statute for starting a medical malpractice suit is 2 ½ years from injury. However, if the attorney brings a lawsuit for birth injuries of a young child his time may be tolled for infancy, but never more than 10 years or before the child reaches 21 ½ years, whichever isless. In addition, in case a summons & complaint is filed against a public hospital, the applicable statute of limitations is a year and 90 days, plus a healthcare facility must be familiar with the claim within 90 days of its occurrence, in order to preserve all applicable evidence.

A medical expert must review the case

birth injury lawsuit in New York can't be filed without an attached Certificate of Merit, in which plaintiff's attorney affirms that he had the case reviewed by a professional who felt that the case could have merit. The legislature instituted tougher rules for filing of the summons & complaint against the physician allegedly in order to curb the rising medical malpractice insurance costs. Obtaining the case viewed by a professional doesn't guarantee so it is going to be won, as unfortunately majority of them are lost at trial. What the Certificate signifies to the court is that the situation is not frivolous.

Physician must violate a typical of care to be liable

In every lawsuit for birth injuries the attorney must be able to prove that the physician departed from the acceptable standards of medical care during labor and delivery, thereby causing injury to the infant plaintiff. In cases of Erb's Palsy, where a trauma to the top of extremities is sustained by the excessive pulling and traction in order to release the stuck shoulders, the lawyer can often argue that alternatives, like a c-section, existed to the obstetrician, and another doctor in his shoes could have resorted to the safer means of having the newborn out.

Forms of damages which can be recovered

Malpractice causing birth injuries often carry with it lifelong pain and suffering for the child, along with medical and hospital expenses for his parents. When the attorney files a lawsuit for the family for birth injuries he needs to sue for many damages in the summons & complaint, thus notifying the defendant and the court which kind of recovery has been sought. Oftentimes the damages sought are both monetary and non-monetary, and the birth injury lawsuit will delineate which plaintiff (infant, parent or guardian) seeks a particular recovery from the negligent doctor.