If you, your child, or a loved one has suffered from a preventable birth injury, you may be entitled to compensation. At The Becker Law Firm, our award-winning birth injury attorneys are available to help you learn more about your rights and options during a free consultation to discuss how we can assist you in pursuing the justice and financial recovery you deserve.
Why Choose The Becker Law Firm?
- We hold the record for the largest personal injury settlement for a single victim in Ohio history.
- Our team includes attorneys who are also Registered Nurses capable of leveraging their insight.
- We’ve recovered over $600 Million in compensation for clients, and have successfully represented children across the nation, from Hawaii to Maine.
- Our attorneys have recovered multiple 8-figure settlements for birth injury plaintiffs.
- We have secured verdicts for birth injury victims across Ohio, including hundreds of millions in cases turned down by other law firms.
Since 1980, The Becker Law Firm has focused exclusively on protecting the rights of injured victims and families during some of the most difficult times in their lives. We have the experience required of complex cases and the determination to guide clients through every step of the legal process.
Request a FREE consultation when you contact us at 216-621-3000.
Who Can File a Birth Injury Lawsuit?
Victims who suffer preventable birth injuries may be able to file civil lawsuits against doctors, nurses, hospitals, or other health care providers they claim were negligent in causing their injuries. While each case is unique, and the ability to file a claim depends on the facts involved, the general elements of a birth injury lawsuit are as follows:
- Duty: Victims must prove a legal duty existed between them and a health care provider.
- Breach of Duty: Plaintiffs in birth injury lawsuits must show treating health care providers failed to meet their “duty of care.” In other words, they will need to prove a medical professional failed to meet the accepted standards of their profession.
- Causation: In addition to proving a provider’s breach of duty, Plaintiffs must further prove the substandard care was more likely than not the cause of their injury.
- Damages: Victims must demonstrate how they suffered damages as a result of their medical provider’s negligence.
What Are My Rights as a Parent of a Birth Injury Victim?
If medical negligence harmed your child during birth, you have specific legal rights protecting your family. Understanding these rights is crucial to holding accountable those were responsible for harming your child. If medical malpractice is suspected, you are entitled to file a lawsuit against the healthcare professionals or institutions involved. This legal action can help you obtain compensation for various damages, including medical expenses, ongoing care costs, loss of income, and emotional distress.
Your right to seek compensation encompasses both economic and non-economic damages, ensuring you receive restitution for your losses and personal suffering. However, you must act promptly to meet the time limits imposed by the statute of limitations here in Ohio. Working with experienced legal professionals who are experienced with birth injury cases can significantly strengthen your position. They can assess your case, determine the best course of action, and guide you through the process with expertise and compassion.
Remember, pursuing legal action not only helps your family, but also fosters accountability within the medical community, potentially preventing future incidents.
Complex Claims, High Stakes Litigation
Birth injury lawsuits have simple elements in theory, but they are recognized as being some of the most complex civil injury claims to litigate. Not only must plaintiffs gather the evidence needed to support their allegations, they’ll also need to address very particular laws, highly technical medical concepts, and the expenses and challenges of litigating what are often high-value claims.
Examples of birth injury claims include:
- Failure to diagnose and / or properly manage high-risk births or complications, such as maternal diabetes or high blood pressure, infections, umbilical cord problems, and more;
- Improper use of medications which induce labor, such as Pitocin / Oxytocin;
- Hospital malpractice, including administrative mistakes or failures to follow emergency protocol;
- Failure to properly monitor fetal heat rate, and appropriately respond to signs of fetal distress/oxygen deprivation resulting in cerebral palsy;
- Delayed C-sections, or failures to perform C-sections;
- Negligent prenatal care;
- Trauma during birth caused by improper delivery technique or improper use of vacuum extractors / forceps.
Doctors, hospitals, and medical malpractice insurers fight aggressively to defend against birth injury claims, and they’ll go to great lengths to dispute and deny liability.
To level the playing field, victims can work with experienced attorneys who have the resources to conduct necessary investigations, collaborate with medical experts, and build claims that effectively demonstrate health care providers’ failures and their role in causing preventable injuries.
What Compensation Are Birth Injury Victims Entitled To?
Birth injury victims who prevail in their cases are entitled to a recovery of damages – the economic and non-economic losses incurred as a result of their injuries. This also includes the losses victims are likely to experience in the future, which is common in cases involving serious and life-altering injuries such as brain damage, HIE, and cerebral palsy, among others.
Accounting for the full scope of victims’ damages is a crucial component of these cases, as it allows victims to secure financial compensation for their:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional injuries (i.e. anguish, grief, lost quality of life, etc.)
- Lost income / lost future wages
- Medical bills and future medical expenses
- Costs of accommodative care, living assistance, and special needs
Contact Experienced Birth Injury Lawyers to Guide You
At The Becker Law Firm, our nationally recognized trial lawyers have amassed a proven record of success in birth injury and medical malpractice claims. Some examples of our birth injury results include:
- $25.5M for a baby who suffered oxygen deprivation and brain damage after a hospital failed to follow its obstetrical emergency protocol.
- $14.5M for a baby who suffered severe brain hemorrhage, cerebral palsy, and permanent cognitive impairments after doctors delayed a C-section when the mother had a history of preterm labor.
- $11.35M jury verdict for a child who suffered a watershed brain injury at the time of birth.
- $8.7M for infant brain damage caused by failures to appropriately manage preeclampsia.
Contact The Becker Law Firm at 216-621-3000 for a free consultation and let our experienced attorneys fight for your rights and the compensation your family deserves.
