Millions of babies are born in the United States each year, but a small percentage of them are born with a birth injury or birth defect. While some of these occurrences are unavoidable, there is a class of birth injuries that all share a common cause: medical negligence.
The birth injuries that occur because of medical negligence cause unnecessary trauma and pain for children and parents. Worst of all, they are nearly always preventable.
Birth injuries caused by negligence can alter your life and that of your newborn for weeks, months, or longer. They can cause you inconvenience and expenses as you attend extra doctor’s visits, subject your child to additional procedures, and miss time at home for travel and appointments.
When your newborn and your family have been impacted by a carelessly caused birth injury, the Miami birth injury lawyers at Ratzan Weissman & Boldt are in your corner. We are ready to step up for you and your loved ones and will fight to hold negligent doctors, nurses, and other staff responsible for the damage they caused to your family.
Certain birth injuries should never happen. The trauma inflicted on a mother and her child through negligence can cause a variety of complications for the newborn. Some of the most common forms of birth injuries caused by negligence include:
The bundle of nerves that run from your newborn’s spinal cord through the shoulder and down the arm can become damaged through an incorrect delivery. Damage to this group of nerves typically happens when the delivery team has trouble delivering the newborn’s shoulder through the birth canal and vagina.
This nerve damage can lead to a loss of feeling and use of the affected arm, and this issue can be permanent if the nerves are damaged beyond repair.
Too much force or the use of too much suction on the newborn’s head during delivery can lead to bleeding within the layers of the skull, causing a raised bump of blood that will flatten as the blood is reabsorbed.
This issue can create what appears to be a small crater or indentation in the head that should, over time, disappear. Severe cases of cephalohematoma can persist and will require further medical intervention.
Asphyxia occurs when the newborn’s air supply is interrupted, depriving the brain and organs of necessary oxygen. This interruption of oxygen can occur either during the birthing process or immediately after delivery.
If the umbilical cord becomes wrapped around the child’s neck, if the child is not properly positioned for delivery, or if delivery is labored and too prolonged, the risk of asphyxia increases.
Very short interruptions in the air supply usually do not cause concern. However, a deprivation of oxygen can quickly become a serious medical event that threatens the baby’s life. Prolonged deprivations of oxygen can lead to permanent brain damage for the child.
Hearing news that your newborn suffered a birth injury can be devastating. Unless you possess specialized training or medical knowledge, it may not be immediately obvious to you that your child’s injuries could have been prevented. These are a few signs that could indicate your child’s birth trauma was the result of negligence:
The presence of one or more of these signs is not conclusive evidence that negligence occurred. When you have a question about whether you have legal rights, the best course of action is to consult with a birth injury lawyer.
Ratzan, Weissman & Boldt is your Miami birth injury law firm, and our child birth injury attorneys are skilled in helping families like yours receive financial compensation for the trauma inflicted carelessly before, during, and after delivery. Whether you are in Miami or elsewhere in the country, let us help you achieve a recovery in your case.
If you visit with a birth trauma injury lawyer believing that your child was harmed through negligent care, your birth trauma lawyer will undertake an extensive review of the medical records and other evidence in your case.
The goal of this investigation is simple: to uncover, as nearly as possible, all of the causes and contributing factors that led to your child’s birth injury. Some of the evidence consulted can include:
In birth injury cases, it is often helpful to have the available evidence scrutinized by another medical professional or expert. An expert with knowledge in the field is best suited to review the steps your doctor took during your pregnancy and delivery.
Such a review can identify decisions, impressions, and actions your doctor took that were objectively unreasonable and careless under the circumstances.
This review and evaluation is necessary because no medical professional can guarantee you a pregnancy and delivery without complications. However, your doctor has a legal obligation to provide you with reasonably competent care. What is reasonable and competent will depend on the following:
Trust the birth injury trauma lawyers at Ratzan Weissman & Boldt to conduct a thorough review of your case and give you an honest assessment of your legal rights.
Any expenses that you and your family incur as a result of the injury, as well as those you are likely to incur in the future, are compensable in a birth injury case.
This could include immediate and ongoing medical treatment, therapeutic costs, counseling services, and loss or reduction in income earning potential. You can also receive compensation for emotional trauma and mental suffering.
Once you know or should know your child suffered a birth injury, you have two years from that date to file your suit. No birth injury lawsuit can be commenced more than four years from the date the injury is inflicted or the negligence occurred. This is the statute of limitations in Florida; other states have statutes of limitations that may be longer or shorter.
If you have any concerns about your newborn’s health, seek immediate medical evaluation and care. You may want to do this with a specialist or a doctor other than the one who allegedly committed the medical error.
At the same time, because of the short statute of limitations, you should also speak with a birth trauma injury attorney as soon as you can.
At Ratzan Weissman & Boldt, we don’t believe that any amount of money can adequately atone for a birth injury. Yet if your child has been hurt by a medical mistake, you must choose a law firm that can protect your family’s rights and welfare.
You need a firm that has the legal and medical resources, expertise, and the commitment essential to successfully pursue a birth injury claim. We can help you sort through the most complicated issues to reveal the primary cause.
We strive to compensate parents for the emotional and financial burden of caring for a child with special needs, or the heartbreak of losing a child.
Most often, the causes of preventable birth injuries are
What distinguishes us from other firms is our ability to take on the most difficult and demanding birth injury cases, confirmed by our record of successful results. For the cases we pursue, we commit our entire arsenal of expertise and resources.
Speak with a Florida birth injury lawyer at Ratzan Weissman & Boldt, or fill out our Free Consultation Form. There is no fee for this initial consultation, and our attorneys will spend whatever time is needed to answer your questions.
Our birth injury lawyers represent clients in Miami, across the state of Florida, and throughout the united states.
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