While it is possible for your child to be born with a broken bone for natural reasons, careless doctors break many more using forceps or ignoring signs of a difficult childbirth. These injured children and their families deserve compensation, which we can help you receive.
Our infant broken bone lawyers in Gilbert, AZ, can help you pursue a lawsuit against the doctor or hospital that broke your child’s bones. If you suspect your infant has broken bones, first seek medical care for them and then call the Birth Injury Lawyers Group to see if you have a case.
For a free legal consultation, call 1-800-222-9529
Common Broken Bones at Birth
At birth, the collarbone is the most common bone broken. This is because the shoulders are the widest part of a baby to pass through the birth canal, so the force of labor gets concentrated there. The upper arm and the upper leg are the next most common.
A prolonged delivery can put too much pressure on the bones and break them. Sometimes this is avoidable with medical intervention and could be a cause for a lawsuit. Another cause is shoulder dystocia. This happens when a child’s shoulder gets stuck in the mother’s pelvis during delivery. It is a medical emergency, but the maneuvers to free the infant to carry a risk of broken bones.
If another bone gets broken besides the three mentioned, your doctor likely used forceps or a vacuum extraction machine to get your child free. Unfortunately, these devices have a high risk of injury to infants, sometimes even causing skull fractures that lead to brain bleeding.
Birth Injury Lawyer Near Me 1-800-222-9529
Consequences of Infant Broken Bones
While many infant broken bones heal without lasting damage, early detection is critical. Babies heal quickly, but broken bones can create misalignment between the bones and create a lifelong deformity. It can impair your child for the rest of their life.
Some signs of a broken bone in an infant include:
- Pain – Babies cannot express precise pain well, but if touching an isolated spot on your infant causes them to cry, it could be a broken bone. The collarbone, arms, and legs are the most likely spots.
- Deformity – Depending on the break, you could see swelling, discolored skin, and a misshapen look to the area.
- Sounds – Sometimes, a parent can hear the pop of a bone break. While this isn’t likely during birth, it might be heard if a nurse drops your baby and causes a fracture.
If you suspect a broken bone, the first priority is to get it treated. Your doctor may need to immobilize your infant until the bones can knit properly. Fortunately, this takes less time than in older children.
There is also a slim chance that your child may have brittle bones or osteogenesis imperfecta. This is a rare condition that makes bones extremely fragile. However, this is an inherited disease, and there are genetic tests your doctor can perform to see if this is a risk.
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Do I Have a Malpractice Case if There Is a Broken Bone?
It’s possible, but that’s something for a birth injury attorney with experience in infant broken bones to decide. Birth injury cases can be difficult to prove, but if there is evidence that shows that a member of your medical team failed to measure up to the standards of care, you have a case.
If we believe you have a case, we’ll get to work proving the four things necessary to win a birth injury lawsuit:
- Did the person you’re suing have a medical relationship with you?
- Was that person acting outside the standards of care?
- Did that breach of the standards injure your child?
- How was your child injured, and what were the consequences?
After building a strong case, we will approach whoever is responsible for our compensation demand. They will have malpractice insurance as part of their license requirements. We will negotiate with the insurer to settle. If they refuse to settle, we will take them to court.
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How Can I Afford a Birth Injury Lawyer?
Giving birth in America is expensive already. You might worry about how you can afford a birth injury lawyer on top of your medical debt. Don’t fear. Our birth injury lawyers work under a contingency system, so you do not have to pay anything unless you win compensation.
Should you win, your lawyer will take a reasonable percentage of your settlement as their fee. You’ll know exactly what this percentage is during your consultation and how it might change depending on what happens in your case.
A simple example is going to court. Going to court is expensive for everyone. You might have to pay more if your case doesn’t settle out of court. Nevertheless, any Gilbert infant broken bones attorney worth their salt will get you more compensation than you could, even after they take their fee out.
Is There a Deadline to File an Infant Broken Bone Lawsuit?
Arizona’s statute of limitations for lawsuits involving minors is quite broad. The usual deadline for a personal injury case is two years, but the clock for children doesn’t start until after their 18th birthday. There also isn’t a statute of repose, which sets an absolute time limit for cases.
However, starting your case sooner rather than later is always better. Precious evidence may disappear and memories may fade into uselessness. Winning your case depends on hard evidence, so you can’t afford to let it slip away.
As soon as you hire a Gilbert infant broken bones lawyer from the Birth Injury Lawyers Group, they’ll get to work contacting the hospital and doctor to preserve the evidence you need for your case. There is no good reason to delay contacting a lawyer.
Contact an Infant Broken Bones Attorney Today
The Birth Injury Lawyers Group can put you in touch with a qualified birth injury attorney in Gilbert, AZ, with just one phone call. You do not have to shoulder the burden of your child’s injury alone. You must find out if your case may qualify for a malpractice lawsuit.
For more information about how we can help you pay for medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more for your child’s injury contact our team by calling the number on your screen or completing our free case evaluation form.
Call or text 1-800-222-9529
or complete a Free Case Evaluation form