Category: Birth Injuries

Trusted Birth Injury Attorneys

Types of Birth Injuries

Every parent has hopes and dreams for their children. These dreams start even before a child is born. When these hopes and dreams are shattered due to medical malpractice, the heartbreak, sadness and grief can threaten to consume you. One way to get justice and a measure of control over your life is to bring a lawsuit against those responsible for your child’s condition.

When malpractice or medical negligence occur during labor, all it takes is a split second for an injury to occur. A birth injury that came about due to malpractice or medical negligence can lead to a child who is impaired, suffering from one of many different types of conditions.

Our dedicated New York birth injury attorneys can take action in the full range of birth claims, including:

• Cerebral palsy: If your child has cerebral palsy because of medical malpractice in labor or delivery, we can help.
• Erb’s palsy: Erb’s palsy damages the nerves in the shoulder and the muscles in the elbow.
• Brain injuries from birth. When a baby does not have sufficient oxygen in labor and delivery, he or she can suffer severe brain injury.
• Excessive newborn jaundice: When a child has excessive levels of bilirubin at birth, it can lead to severe brain damage, known as kernicterus.
• Obstetric negligence: When obstetricians make mistakes in the labor and delivery process, the result can be life-changing injuries or death to the child and/or the mother.
• Cesarean section injuries: A cesarean section is a major surgery. When doctors fail to handle complications arising from the surgery, mothers can be injured or even killed.
• Improper use of forceps: Doctors must exercise great care when using a forceps to deliver a child. The inappropriate use of this device can lead to lifelong injuries.
• Traumatic vacuum extraction: Often a vacuum extraction, when performed improperly or at an inappropriate stage of labor, can cause severe damage and trauma.
• Failure to recognize fetal distress: Fetal monitoring strips provide extensive information about your child’s progress in labor. When medical professionals fail to act on signs of distress, your child may be severely injured or die as a result.
• Failure to recognize pregnancy-induced hypertension: High blood pressure, or hypertension, caused by pregnancy can injure both the child and the mother.
• Uterine rupture: When doctors and others in the delivery room fail to recognize the signs of uterine rupture, the mother and child can die.
• Failure to recognize and treat infant seizures: Infant seizures are often the sign of birth injuries that have been caused by medical negligence in labor or delivery.
• Prolonged rupture of membranes
• Neonatal sepsis
• Failure to resuscitate

One of the most dangerous situations during childbirth is when the baby does not receive enough oxygen during labor, or “hypoxia.” In some birth injury cases, if the correct procedures were followed, the injuries to your child could have been avoided. When an obstetrician or other medical professional attending the birth fails to take the correct actions in this critical situation resulting in brain damage, it opens the door to the possibility of filing a lawsuit to seek to recover financial compensation.

We work tirelessly to help set our families up for a lifetime of caring for a child who has been injured:

• Lifetime Medical Coverage
• Lifetime In-Home Care
• Financial Support and Funding For Parents

Childbirth poses risks to both mother and child. The medical team attending the birth has specific safety protocols to follow when something goes wrong. If a doctor does not act quickly enough or fails to take the action that is medically necessary, misreads the data provided by medical equipment, critical injuries can occur that can lead to significant problems for your child.

At Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP, our team of experienced birth injury lawyers can help you initiate a legal action to pursue justice for birth-related injuries.  If you or your baby were injured during or before labor or delivery, we urge you to contact us immediately.

Do I Have A Case?

If you believe that your doctor made a medical error or did not provide  “the accepted standard of care,” you may have a case and the ability to file a successful birth injury lawsuit. If your baby is facing the challenges of a birth injury such as cerebral palsy or brain damage, it is imperative that you get legal help without delay.

If your doctor failed to take appropriate action when problems occurred during childbirth, at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP, our attorneys can review the facts in your case and advise you how to move forward with a birth injury lawsuit. Medical professionals must be held accountable for their actions, especially if a medical error, negligence, or poor judgment has led to a condition that will affect your child for life. When one of these errors will affect the future quality of life for your baby, legal action should be undertaken.

Most birth injuries, but not all, are preventable under the care of a knowledgeable and competent medical professional. Sadly, when a baby suffers trauma during birth, the consequences often last for a lifetime.

IMPROPER EQUIPMENT USE

When a doctor or other medical professional attending birth, such as an anesthesiologist or nurse, misreads or misuses equipment, this can lead to errors, and a failure to act in a manner that protects the baby from harm. Misreading equipment or administering incorrect levels of medication or administering medication at the incorrect time can lead to a serious birth injury, leading to a range of impairments, including:

• Paralysis
• Developmental delays
• Long-term disabilities
• Physical impairments
• Underdeveloped limbs
• Death

DOCTOR NEGLIGENCE

Birth injuries commonly occur when a doctor is negligent or fails to act at a critical moment. If your baby lacks oxygen during the birth process, he or she may suffer permanent brain damage with a lifetime of consequences. Injuries can occur in just seconds. An OB/GYN, nurse, or other medical professional is trained in the correct protocols for all problems that can arise during childbirth. A failure to act, as another similarly trained doctor would in such a circumstance, may potentially be considered cause for medical negligence.

How Can A Birth Injuries Attorney Help Me?

A birth injuries attorney can stand by your side to ensure no one takes advantage of you, especially during insurance settlement negotiations. Also, an attorney can take your claim to court. This is a necessary action to recover financial compensation for the associated medical expenses, not to mention the pain and suffering you endured. 

During this difficult time, an experienced birth injury lawyer can help you and your family in many ways.

Here’s a list of what a birth injuries attorney can do: 

• Request all relevant medical reports, records, and diagnostic studies required to analyze the extent of the injuries suffered and the medical treatment performed.

• Identifying the defendant. A New York City personal injury law firm with experienced trial lawyers can examine your case and determine how the injuries happened and who were involved.

After the evaluation, your lawyer can then name who exactly the defendants are. The defendant/s could be any of the following:

• obstetrician 
• surgeon
• delivery nurse
• birthing center or 
• hospital 

Collecting and preserving evidence. A birth injuries attorney can gather evidence and present it to a jury or a judge. Your attorney will collect all forms of evidence such as:

• Eyewitness statements
• Photographs and 
• Medical experts’ testimony that will support your birth injury case

Presenting your birth injury cases to court. Generally, New York law provides that filing a birth injury claim should be carried out within two and a half (2-1/2) years starting from the day the act of negligence occurred. 

Also, New York law provides a time extension for victims of medical malpractice under the age of 18 years. This law allows the families of “infants” (who have birth injuries) to begin filing a lawsuit within 10 years starting from the date when the medical malpractice occurred. Or within the two and a half years (2-1/2) after the “victim” reaches the age of 18 years. 

For cases against public hospitals/health care or facilities of the federal state, city, or town, the time limit to file a claim is much shorter. Also, this may require a “notice of claim” service that is within the recommended period before commencing the lawsuit.

An experienced New York birth injuries attorney will make sure deadlines are met. And as well as on-time submission of all required documentation and information with your claim.

• Fighting for the rights of your child. When you’re fighting for your child’s rights, your lawyer can stand by your side. He or she is not afraid to go up against hospitals and insurance companies to pursue fair compensation and justice. 

Your lawyer can handle a medical malpractice trial or negotiations while you focus on healing. A birth injury lawyer can discuss your child’s future as well as answer all your questions. 

The skilled trial lawyers at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP will treat your family with compassion and respect. We treat each client the same way we treat members of our family. We understand how traumatic a child’s birth injury can be, and we have the experience and knowledge to bring responsible parties to justice.

If you are unsure whether you need our help, you can contact us and request a free, confidential consultation. By reaching out to us, you’ll learn how we can assist you at no obligation or cost.

What Are the Possible Reasons My Child Is Not Meeting His/Her Milestones?

An injury during birth could lead to a child not meeting important milestones such as crawling or sitting. A child experiencing developmental delays or missing milestones could be the result of an undiagnosed birth injury. Sadly, medical malpractice contributes to a range of problems that affect the normal development of a child.

Modern advances in medicine have greatly reduced injuries to mothers and their infants, whether it’s before, during, or after delivery. But statistics show that in the United States, 3 out of every 100 infants suffer from birth injuries.

Cerebral Palsy 

Cerebral palsy is the most common childhood motor function disability. It is a long-term neurological condition that affects how a child eats, walks, and communicates. Birth injuries that affect the development of a child’s brain may result in cerebral palsy, which includes the lack of oxygen to the brain.

Erb’s Palsy

Erb’s palsy is a type of injury in an infant’s brachial plexus. Or an injury to the bundle of nerves in the child’s shoulder. 

A brachial plexus injury can cause pain, paralysis, or weakness in the affected fingers, hand, or arm. Thus, Erb’s palsy could affect your child’s motor function ability such as grasping items or crawling.

Brain Hypoxia 

Brain hypoxia or hypoxic encephalopathy occurs when the oxygen supply to a child’s brain is cut off. Oxygen deprivation in newborn babies often leads to many health problems and developmental delays. 

Children with brain hypoxia require life-long care. Children with this condition often develop:

• Gross & fine motor skill disabilities
• Cognitive problems and 
• Epilepsy

Bone Fractures

A physician’s negligent action may cause bone fractures in infants through the use of vacuums, forceps, and other birth-assisting tools. Medical malpractice such as dropping the infant or yanking on the baby’s limbs could also cause fractures. An infant’s broken bones often result in the inability to properly move the limb, thus causing developmental delays.

Spinal Cord Injuries

A birth injury that involves the spinal cord may lead to a loss of body sensation, or worse, permanent paralysis. Accordingly, one of the main reasons why your child is missing milestones could be an undiagnosed spinal injury.

Typically, major traumatic events are the leading causes of spinal cord injury in newborn babies. The best example is when a nurse accidentally drops the infant.

A birth injury due to medical malpractice may be the reason your child is not meeting important milestones. It is crucial to go to a doctor immediately if you notice developmental delays in your child such as:

• Talking
• Sitting up
• Crawling
• Rolling over or 
• Walking

Your next step is to call a skilled and experienced birth injuries attorney at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP. Our medical malpractice lawyers can fight to recover compensation from the at-fault party. We make sure damages are collected to help pay for your child’s treatments, therapies, rehabilitation sessions, or special education.

What Can Be Recovered In A Birth Injury Claim?

Whether they have development issues, chronic pain, or disabilities, some children with birth injuries need extensive care, medications, and therapy. In essence, treatment for the aforementioned injuries is astronomically expensive and difficult to calculate.

With that said, the team of skilled birth injury lawyer nyc at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP is well-versed at birth injury cases. We aggressively pursue fair compensation associated with your child’s injury: 

• Professional at-home care or assistive equipment 
• All medical expenses
• Emotional distress
• Pain and suffering
• Reduced earning capacity
• Disfigurement and scarring
• Loss of enjoyment of life

If medical malpractice caused your child’s birth injury, you shouldn’t hesitate to sue at-fault parties and recover compensation. Both the doctor and hospital have professional liability insurance for medical negligence cases. You have the right to file a claim to recover compensation, which you can use to secure your child’s future.

Is There A Time Limit for Filing A Birth Injury Claim?

In New York, all injury claims have a deadline to file a lawsuit with a court, otherwise known as the statute of limitations. For birth injury claims, you have 30 months or two and a half (2-1/2) years to file a lawsuit against a negligent medical professional or hospital. 

Within this period, your lawyer may negotiate with the hospital’s insurance company to collect damages on your behalf. However, if the at-fault party’s insurance company doesn’t want to pay, your lawyer can proceed to file a lawsuit with a court. There, the judge and jury will decide your case. 

It is important to know that the New York Court of Appeals has made it clear about the statute of limitations for birth injury cases. It does not begin on the day the injury occurred but on the date of your child’s birth. 

Also, birth injury claims can be tolled, which means a court can grant you an extension if you meet certain requirements. The extension will allow you to file a claim after those 2-1/2 years.

How To File A Birth Injury Cases

In the state of New York, filing a birth injury lawsuit involves fulfilling certain criteria. Likewise, you need to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of your child’s injuries. Doing these tasks all by yourself can be next to impossible.

Your best option is to contact a birth injuries attorney at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP. Since 1922, our personal injury law firm has served as a strong advocate for parents and injured children. Schedule a free consultation so we can sit down with your family and explain everything. 

We usually begin our investigation by reviewing both the child and the mother’s medical records. Our purpose is to determine if negligence occurred during:

• the birthing process
• pre-natal treatment or 
• follow up treatment & observation

Our investigation seeks to establish these elements: 

• A medical professional had a duty of care to the mother and the infant. 
• That medical professional (the doctor, hospital administrator, or nurse) committed medical malpractice.
• That an act of medical negligence or malpractice caused your child’s birth injury, and
• That birth injury has led to financial losses for your family.

When we can prove all the aforementioned elements, we can then begin to file a claim against the hospital’s insurance company. And ultimately pursue compensation for your child’s injuries, as well as compensation for the associated costs of care.

Contact Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP Today

If your baby was injured during childbirth, contact the law offices of Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP and seek the help that you need. Medical malpractice cases need to be filed within the strict statute of limitations in New York – you have two years and six months in which to file.

Schedule a consultation today – the initial meeting is free and you don’t pay any fees until we win your case. Our New York City birth injury attorney ny offer compassionate representation during these difficult times. For a free review of your case, call Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP today at 212-344-1000 or contact us online.