After your child’s Erb’s palsy diagnosis, it’s reasonable for you to be concerned about providing the best care for them both now and in the future. For this reason, it’s important to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible to determine if your child has a valid medical malpractice claim and needs legal protection.
You need a lawyer who will devote their time to fighting for accountability and responsibility for your child’s preventable birth injury case. Doctors and hospitals have deep pockets and expensive lawyers at their disposal. However, experienced Erb’s palsy lawyers in Florida can go up against even the largest hospital corporations or insurance companies to help you win.
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How Can Medical Malpractice Lead to Erb’s Palsy?
Thousands of children yearly are left with nerve damage because of mistakes medical professionals made during labor and delivery. Unfortunately, many parents don’t realize that their healthcare provider might be to blame for one of the most common birth injuries, Erb’s palsy. Many people confuse this condition with cerebral palsy, but they are not the same.
Unlike Erb’s palsy, cerebral palsy is a group of permanent movement disorders that can occur during fetal development or early childhood. It results from damage to the brain, which can occur due to various factors, such as oxygen deprivation from fetal distress, infections, or genetic abnormalities. Medical malpractice is not typically considered a direct cause of cerebral palsy, as it is often a result of underlying medical conditions or circumstances beyond the control of healthcare providers.
Identifying the negligent actions of the medical staff is the first step to determining if its actions caused your child’s injuries. If your child suffers from Erb’s palsy, an attorney can help investigate if a medical professional made any of the following errors that caused your child’s disability:
- The baby’s shoulders were pulled on during birth
- During a breech birth, the baby’s raised arms were pulled with aggressive force
- The baby’s head and neck were pulled to one side as the shoulders went through the birth canal
- The doctor pulled the baby from the birth canal during a difficult delivery
- Forceps, a vacuum, or other delivery room tools were used incorrectly
- The staff waited too long to order a C-section
- A healthcare provider ignored signs of fetal distress
This medical condition can affect your child for the rest of their life if they don’t receive the proper medical care and legal support. However, OrthoInfo states most children who have suffered from Erb’s palsy recover with the help of physical therapy and can lead healthy lives.
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Should I File a Claim With a Florida Birth Injury Lawyer?
It’s worth your time to hire a Florida birth injury attorney and pursue legal action against the medical personnel who caused your family pain. After consulting with medical professionals to determine whether your child’s condition was caused by medical negligence, an attorney will pursue compensation for you and your child and hold the negligent parties responsible for their actions.
According to Fla. Stat. § 94.11(4)(b), you have two years to file a medical malpractice claim under Florida’s statute of limitations. However, when filing on behalf of a child, you have four years from the date the injury occurred to file. A Florida birth injury lawyer can help you determine exactly how long you have to file.
Your time and money are valuable. Make sure you’re working with a compassionate legal team who wants to be your advocate through it all. While you can pursue a birth injury claim independently, hiring someone with experience with the tactics hospitals’ legal teams and insurance companies tend to use is in your best interest.
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What Is the Process for an Erb’s Palsy Birth Injury Lawsuit?
Your lawyer can guide you through every step of filing a birth injury lawsuit and obtaining justice from negligent medical professionals and their hospital. So, while you shift your priorities to your child’s care, having someone by your side who’s qualified to fight back against insurance companies and can help you win your case will be relieving.
Step 1: Consultation
The first step to filing a claim and pursuing recovery for your damages is to contact an experienced Erb’s palsy lawyer who can review your case and your child’s diagnosis to help you decide whether or not to move forward.
Step 2: File a Claim
If your Florida Erb’s palsy lawyer believes you have a case, they can help you start the filing process. This usually begins with drafting and filing a petition to start your medical malpractice lawsuit.
Filing a claim is one of the most important steps because it sets your legal intentions. It’s important to be aware of the statute of limitations filing deadline because if you miss it, you and your injured child won’t be able to collect compensation.
Step 3: Discovery
The discovery process is a critical component of any birth injury case. During this phase, your Florida birth injury attorney will gather all relevant evidence, such as medical records, the timeline of medical treatment, details of the birthing process, and documentation of medical errors.
This may include reviewing the medical staff’s actions before, during, and after delivery and assessing any medical care provided to you and your child. Your lawyer may also work with medical experts to confirm that the negligent doctor deviated from the standard of care required in the health industry.
Step 4: Depositions
A deposition is a sworn testimony that helps your lawyer discover information a witness has that could be relevant to your case. You’ll get answers to questions about what happened before, after, and during the birth from medical professionals.
Step 5: Investigation
If you’re working with an experienced birth injury law firm, they will have connections to medical experts. After consulting with them, your lawyer can file a pre-suit investigation to uncover the facts of your case.
These well-qualified nurses and doctors with experience related to birth injuries can assist your Erb’s palsy lawyer in analyzing your case to determine where medical professionals acted negligently.
Step 6: Mediation
Mediation or settlement negotiations allow both parties to meet outside the court to agree on how much compensation the negligent parties owe you. In most instances, the case will finish here and never have to be presented to a judge.
Step 7: Trial
If the case doesn’t settle in mediation because of the defendant’s legal team and insurance company’s hesitation, your next step is to go to trial. Your skilled Erb’s palsy lawyer will present your case to a judge or a jury, call medical experts and witnesses to testify, and put your case in the hands of the jury. If your case wins, you will be issued a court award.
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Damages You Can Recover for Your Child’s Erb’s Palsy Case
Our legal guidance can help you recover losses you and your child have suffered due to their birth injury. Florida birth injury lawyers can ease your stress and financial burdens by helping secure compensation for you and your child’s losses, including:
- Past and future medical bills
- Medical equipment and assistive devices
- Inability to work
- Special education costs
- Home modifications
- Therapy and rehabilitation
- Loss of quality of life
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
We can review your child’s case and determine what damages you and your child are eligible for. We base your eligibility on the severity of your child’s pain and the level of negligence in your case.
How Much Money Can You Get from an Erb’s Palsy Settlement?
In Erb’s palsy lawsuits, there is no minimum amount you can receive in a settlement. Instead, it is all dependent on your damages. After helping you identify your losses, a Florida Erb’s palsy lawyer will total your non-economic and economic damages and assign a value to your case that you should pursue for compensation.
Florida statutes authorize a cap of $500,000 on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, which covers compensation for “pain and suffering. However, in instances where the malpractice resulted in death or a vegetative state, there’s a $1,000,000 cap on non-economic damages instead.
Contact Our Erb’s Palsy Lawyers After Your Child Is Diagnosed
The Birth Injury Lawyers Group is dedicated to representing families and victims of medical malpractice. If you think that your baby’s Erb’s palsy was caused by a physician, healthcare professional, or hospital administrator who did not perform their duties correctly, we urge you to contact our office right away.
Our Florida Erb’s palsy attorneys can provide a free case review to determine your family’s best course of action based on your options and what you’re eligible to recover. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation. We take cases on a contingency fee, which means our clients spend nothing out of pocket until they receive compensation.
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