Watching your child grow up with a disability is never easy. You want to do everything you can to make managing that disability as straightforward as possible. Knowing that the disability is the result of someone else’s negligence can make that journey seem even harder.
Erb’s palsy is a condition brought about by medical negligence during a child’s birth. If your child suffers from paralysis, reduced sensitivity in the arm or neck, or other symptoms of this condition, you can fight for compensation in court. Our birth injury lawyers in South Carolina will stand with you whether you pursue negotiations or a trial.
Preparing for a Future With Erb’s Palsy
Caring for a child with Erb’s palsy can be expensive. Knowing that your child’s mobility has been compromised by someone else’s negligence can also be infuriating. That’s why our team wants to equip you with the tools you need to hold the right parties responsible for your losses.
Civil suits allow you to bring Erb’s palsy cases before a circuit court judge. When you submit an initial complaint, you can elaborate on the negligence that contributed to your child’s condition. In identifying a liable party and stating your desired compensation, you can fight for the support that your child needs to live a happy, healthy life.
It’s our job to make the filing of your complaint even simpler. When you work with our office, we can go over your case and help you bring forward evidence to support your claim. Whether your case goes to trial or negotiations, we can stand with you.
Responding to an Erb’s Palsy Diagnosis
When it comes to caring for a child with Erb’s palsy, you can find yourself contending with the complexities of legal representation in court. To bring your child’s losses before a judge, you’ll need to become your child’s guardian ad litem.
Even if you are your child’s biological and legal parent, you must still file a petition to be elected as that child’s representative. Only once you’ve been elected into this position can you present an Erb’s palsy claim based on your child’s losses. You can then monitor the case as it progresses through civil court.
There may be additional limitations placed on the settlement or compensation you receive through an Erb’s palsy case. For example, some of that compensation might have to remain in a trust for your child’s future use. You can discuss how best to address these stipulations with South Carolina Erb’s palsy attorneys.
Who to Hold Responsible for Your Losses in Erb’s Palsy Cases
More often than not, Erb’s palsy is caused by a doctor’s medical negligence. That said, the individual who caused your child’s nerve damage is likely protected by their employer’s legal team. With that in mind, it’s difficult to hold that single individual responsible for your losses.
Instead, medical malpractice lawsuits take your losses up with entire medical institutions. This does mean that you’ll be contending with a hospital’s legal team. With the right input and strategy, though, you can adequately elaborate on their birthing room negligence and fight for the financial support you deserve.
Note that you’ll bring a medical institution to task whether Erb’s palsy developed in prenatal care, labor, or delivery. A South Carolina Erb’s palsy attorney can also help you file a suit against a medical professional who failed to diagnose your child’s condition.
Requesting Compensation for Erb’s Palsy
When you request compensation for Erb’s palsy losses, you need to consider both your child’s health and their mental wellbeing. That’s all before you consider the value of your own, too. While you can work with an attorney to hammer out the details, your initial request should include:
- The expense of giving birth
- Medical bills associated with Erb’s palsy care
- Mobility aids and pain management medication
- Physical therapy for both you and your child
- Pain and suffering
- Lost opportunities to work
- Emotional damages
- Long or short term disability compensation
If your case goes to trial, a judge may award punitive damages to you and your child. You can’t include punitive damages in your initial complaint, but you can discuss whether or not the negligence in your case might qualify you for them.
The Severity of Erb’s Palsy Contributes to Your Possible Compensation
Erb’s palsy impacts children’s mobility in different ways. The severity of the condition’s impact on your child can, in turn, alter how the kind of compensation to which you both may be entitled. If you want to argue that your child’s Erb’s palsy is particularly severe, it’s best to bring forward a professional witness to back your claim.
A medical professional who was not present at the birth of your child can act as an expert witness by assessing your child’s mobility and nerve damage from an objective standpoint. That professional can then present evidence indicating the impact of negligence on your child’s future, suggesting in turn what kind of compensation may be needed to make their life easier.
Erb’s Palsy, Medical Malpractice, and South Carolina’s Statute of Limitations
The amount of time you have in which to legally respond to an Erb’s palsy diagnosis is limited. South Carolina’s statute of limitations, S.C. Code § 15-79-110, gives you three years to act on your discovery.
That said, there is some flexibility to this deadline. Most civil suits require your eligible filing period to begin on the day you or a loved one is injured. Medical malpractice suits allow you to pursue compensation starting on the day you discover your child’s condition.
You can work with an Erb’s palsy lawyer in South Carolina to determine on what day your countdown started and how much time you have left in which to file your complaint.
Erb’s Palsy Settlements Versus Medical Malpractice Court Cases
Medical institutions can sometimes recognize when an Erb’s palsy case is on the horizon. In these cases, a hospital’s representatives may reach out to you with a settlement offer.
Settlement offers work like your case compensation. They represent financial support based on your losses that you can use to help your child overcome future mobility challenges. You can negotiate for a settlement offer, too, even if the hospital approached you before you had time to calculate your ideal compensation.
That said, take a step back from an offer and consult an attorney before you sign any papers. We can compare a hospital’s offer against our own calculations and ensure that you’re not getting cheated. If the need arises, we can even present the hospital with a counter offer. Should negotiations not go your way, we can then take the liable party to court.
Our Erb’s Palsy Lawyers Can Guide You Through a Court Case
Raising a child with Erb’s palsy can see you and your family in and out of the hospital frequently. Knowing that your child’s disability is the fault of someone else’s negligence can leave you resentful—but that doesn’t mean you have to face the consequences of that negligence alone.
A South Carolina Erb’s palsy attorney is ready to take your fight for compensation to court. Contact our team over the phone or online, and we’ll discuss how you can get justice for the wrongs done to your child.