How a Bethesda Birth Injury Attorney Helps Families
Parents in Virginia and Maryland should know that if a newborn sustains a birth injury as the result of a healthcare provider’s negligence, the law entitles families to reasonable compensation. To secure that compensation, parents must be represented by a Bethesda birth injury attorney.
If you continue reading, you’ll learn what to do if your newborn is injured by medical malpractice before or during the birthing process. You will also learn how to pursue and win the monetary compensation that families are entitled to when birth injuries happen.
A birth injury is any harm to a child that happens at or near the time of birth. Birth injuries include oxygen deprivation (birth asphyxia), undue pressure on the baby’s body or head (birth trauma), contracting an infection, and any other birth-related complication or injury.
When birth-related injuries in Maryland or Virginia are the result of medical carelessness, families have the legal right to receive compensation sufficient to cover their child’s additional medical treatment – for as long as that treatment is required.
Overall, the rate of birth injuries is lower now than in past decades because of improved prenatal monitoring, the restricted use of forceps, and because doctors will order a cesarean delivery if they anticipate a risk of a birth injury.
A Personal Injury Lawyer Will Hold Liable Parties Accountable
Yet, despite numerable and stunning technological and medical advances, birth injuries still happen too frequently, and they lead too often to a child’s permanent disability.
Every year in the U.S., approximately 25,000 newborn children become the victims of injuries caused by birth-related medical malpractice, but many birth injuries would be preventable with appropriate and timely intervention.
A Bethesda medical malpractice lawyer will examine a family’s claim and determine which party or parties may have liability – a hospital, clinic, obstetrician, anesthesiologist, nurse, or a drug company.
But it’s a hospital’s delivery room personnel – not a pharmaceutical company or any other party – that is typically responsible for injuries such as cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, and brachial plexus injuries.
Can Your Bethesda Birth Injury Attorney Hold a Hospital Accountable?
In some birth injury cases, hospitals may be held “directly” liable for negligence, while in other cases, a hospital may be deemed liable “vicariously” for the negligence of its employees.
Hospitals in Maryland and Virginia are required to conduct comprehensive background checks of employment candidates. Every degree, certification, and license must be verified. If a background check isn’t thorough, a hospital might be held “directly” liable for negligent hiring.
Additionally, a hospital must have adequate personnel on the premises to care appropriately for their patients every hour of every day.
A healthcare facility or hospital may be “vicariously” liable for employee negligence if an employee’s carelessness happened in the “course and scope” of that individual’s employment duties.
Many obstetricians, however, are categorized by hospitals as independent contractors rather than employees. A hospital does not have vicarious liability in these cases, but it may have direct liability for allowing an incompetent doctor to practice.
How Can Malloy Law Offices, LLC Help Parents?
If a birth-related injury occurs in the Bethesda area or anywhere in Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia, it’s essential for parents to contact a Bethesda birth injury lawyer at once.
A family must have reliable legal advice immediately if a newborn has sustained an injury. Your Bethesda birth injury attorney will discuss your options and explain your rights, which may include a medical malpractice claim.
After examining the details of your case, your medical malpractice attorney will investigate your claim to determine which party or parties may be liable and to determine if pursuing a medical malpractice claim is in fact the best way for your family to proceed.
The most frequently-occurring birth injuries are cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, and brachial plexus damage. These birth injuries are almost always preventable. The causes of these injuries include:
1. mistakes while using forceps
2. the use of unnecessary pressure
3. deprivation of oxygen to the newborn
4. failing to order a cesarean section
5. inadequate or negligent prenatal fetal monitoring
Should a Bethesda Birth Injury Attorney Represent Your Family?
In the labor and birthing process, delivery room personnel must monitor the mother and baby and be ready for any problem that arises. If delivery room personnel do not act to prevent an injury, they’re negligent, it is medical malpractice, and the personnel are liable for any birth injuries.
However, not every birth injury can be blamed on medical malpractice, which is another reason why families must be advised and represented by a Bethesda birth injury attorney if their child is injured before or during the delivery process.
In Virginia and Maryland, a medical malpractice lawsuit arising from a birth injury will prevail only if the family and their medical malpractice attorney are able to demonstrate that medical negligence was a direct cause of a birth injury.
The right attorney will examine the medical records and will consult with medical experts to determine if – and precisely how – medical malpractice resulted in your child’s birth injury.
A Bethesda Birth Injury Attorney Will Fight for Your Family’s Rights
Too often, an injury at the time of birth will require medical treatment and care for a lifetime. Parents in such circumstances must be advised and represented by a Bethesda birth injury lawyer who will fight aggressively to win the maximum compensation that’s available to your family.
An injury of this type is always tragic, but when your child is the victim, and the injury was preventable, your family needs justice. If your newborn sustains a preventable birth injury, seek the legal help you will need – at once. Nothing is more important than your child’s future.
In Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, a Bethesda medical malpractice lawyer can protect your family’s rights and fight aggressively – and effectively – for the compensation your family needs and the justice your child deserves.
It costs nothing for parents to learn more about their rights and how the law applies in their own case. If your child has suffered a an injury, Virginia and Maryland medical malpractice attorneys will provide you with an initial legal consultation at no cost and with no obligation.
Nothing is more important than your child. Medical malpractice lawyers in Virginia and Maryland handle birth injury claims on a contingent fee basis, so parents pay no attorney’s fee unless and until your attorney recovers compensation on your behalf. If you want to know more about birth injury, contact our Bethesda personal injury attorney, and get the information you are looking for.