Top-Rated Raymore Birth Injury Lawyer
Birth injuries caused by an obstetrician, midwife, or nurse are some of the most devastating types of medical malpractice. Your entire world can be turned upside down instantly, and you will be left dealing with unimaginable, life-long consequences. At Dempsey Kingsland Osteen, we are committed to helping families of birth injuries seek justice and compensation for the harm they suffered. Let us help you.
Seeking a trusted Raymore birth injury lawyer? Since 1986, Dempsey Kingsland & Osteen has been dedicated to fighting for your rights. Contact us today.
contact usCommon Causes of Birth Injuries
Most birth injuries are preventable and are often the result of a negligent doctor failing to recognize a complication and act promptly and adequately to address it. Birth injuries can occur for many reasons, but there are a handful of common causes we see often.
Obstetrician Negligence
Your obstetrician (OB) or midwife is responsible for prenatal monitoring, delivery, and postnatal care. It can be medical malpractice if they:
- Fail to adequately monitor the baby during pregnancy,
- misdiagnose or fail to diagnose a condition,
- Fail to identify and treat an infection,
- Do not perform a necessary c-section or do so untimely,
- Use excessive force,
- Improperly utilizing instruments such as a vacuum or forceps,
- Administer an unsafe medication during pregnancy,
- Administer improper dosage of medicine,
- Fail to recognize fetal distress, or
- Fail to manage a nuchal cord (i.e., umbilical cord wrapped around the baby’s neck).
One of the most significant risks to an unborn child is oxygen deprivation. This can occur for several reasons but often has devastating consequences. Any lack of oxygen to the brain can end in severe and permanent brain damage and birth injuries.
Other prevalent birth injuries include:
- Cerebral palsy,
- Erb’s palsy,
- Cephalohematoma,
- Brain damage,
- Caput succedaneum,
- Lacerations and scarring,
- Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy,
- Fractures,
- Spinal cord injuries, and
- Nerve Damage.
In addition to birth injuries to the baby, if there are complications with the delivery, it can lead to severe injury to the mother, including vaginal tearing and lacerations, uterine rupture, hemorrhaging, and more.
Some birth injuries are mild and have a favorable prognosis of a full recovery, but others are severe and permanent. No matter the type of birth injury and severity, it is essential to hold the doctor accountable and ensure you receive the compensation necessary to navigate any disability.
Filing a Birth Injury Lawsuit
If you suspect your child’s birth injury was caused by medical malpractice, you may have the basis for a civil lawsuit.
For a successful birth injury lawsuit, you must prove:
- The doctor owed you a duty of care to act within the accepted standards of the medical community;
- The doctor breached their duty by deviating from that standard of care;
- The doctor’s breach caused your child’s birth injury and harm, and
- The injury caused compensable loss.
Obstetricians and other healthcare professionals are entrusted with a mother’s prenatal care and the safe delivery of the child during birth. They must act within the medical community’s reasonable and accepted standards of care. If they deviate from those norms and injure your baby, they may be liable in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Affidavit of Merit
Many states require an expert certification when filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, and Missouri is one of them. In Missouri, you must file an affidavit of merit within 90 days of initiating your lawsuit.
The affidavit must be completed by a qualified expert, typically a physician, attesting that the defendant deviated from the accepted standards of medical practice and that it directly caused or contributed to the birth injury.
If you fail to file this affidavit within the prescribed time frame, you could be permanently barred from pursuing your claim. A birth injury attorney can assist you through this process.
What Type of Compensation is Available in a Birth Injury Claim
Birth injuries can result in catastrophic, debilitating consequences, including permanent physical and mental disabilities and limitations.
If you successfully prove your case, you may be entitled to economic, non-economic, and, in rare instances, punitive damages.
Most commonly, a birth injury victim can seek economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are meant to compensate victims and their families for tangible losses. While these can vary significantly among cases, they are generally straightforward to calculate by adding up past expenses and anticipated costs. These include:
- Medical expenses such as hospital stays, doctor visits, surgeries, and physical and occupational therapies;
- Lost wages for time missed from work or reduced work hours to care for your child; and
- Home and vehicle modifications to convert your house or car to accommodate your child’s physical disability and mobility issues.
It is also important to provide an accurate estimate of all future economic costs you and your child might incur over the course of their lives. You want to ensure you seek enough money to cover all anticipated medical, modification, and lost earning expenses.
Noneconomic Damages
Noneconomic damages compensate birth injury victims for the negative impact the injury has on their lives. In other words, their intangible, subjective losses.
These include damages for:
- Pain and suffering,
- Permanent disfigurement or scarring,
- Mental anguish,
- Emotional distress, and
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
Non-economic damage can be more challenging to prove because it is personal to the individual. Even someone with a very similar injury may experience significantly different non-economic losses.
Significantly, the economic and non-economic damages you may recover will depend on factors unique to your claim, including insurance policy limits, which the defendants are (i.e., hospital, doctor, etc.), overall prognosis, available evidence, and more.
Punitive Damages
In rare cases, a birth injury plaintiff may be awarded punitive damages by the court to punish a defendant for their grossly negligent actions.
No matter the circumstances, birth injuries can result in some of the most substantial financial losses. A knowledgeable Raymore birth injury attorney can fight for the maximum compensation your family deserves.
Statutes of Limitations for Birth Injury Lawsuits in Missouri
Generally, a statute of limitations establishes a deadline for when you can initiate a legal action. They exist in almost every type of case and can vary among states and types of claims.
In Missouri, birth injury lawsuits and other medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years from the date of injury or the date it reasonably should have been discovered. However, it cannot be initiated more than ten years after the date of injury, regardless of the circumstances.
Notably, there are exceptions to the general rule that can extend or shorten the window you have for filing your lawsuit. To ensure you bring your case within the legal timeframe, you should consult an attorney as soon as possible. Missing the applicable statute of limitations deadline could prevent you from ever filing a civil lawsuit for damages. Our birth injury lawyer in Raymore will ensure your claim is filed in a timely manner.
How a Raymore Birth Injury Lawyer Can Help
When contemplating filing a birth injury lawsuit, a medical malpractice lawyer, precisely one with experience handling birth injury cases, can be of great assistance. These lawsuits are both legally and factually complex.
It can take a lengthy investigation to identify the accountable parties and the precise cause of the injury. An experienced Raymore birth injury lawyer can help you cut through red tape, identify the liable parties, and successfully hold them responsible for their conduct.
Why DKO Is the Best Choice for Your Birth Injury Case
Not only does DKO have an esteemed reputation as a medical malpractice firm, but we are also an experienced Raymore birth injury law firm. Our practice is dedicated to catastrophic personal injury and medical malpractice claims. We are dedicated to helping moms, babies, and families seek the justice and compensation they deserve for a birth injury.
Among other things, we:
- Have been helping medical malpractice victims since 1986,
- Offer free consultations, including evening and weekend appointments,
- Were named to SuperLawyers eight years in a row,
- Have a licensed physician and lawyer on the team,
- Won multi-million dollar awards for medical malpractice victims,
- Have an esteemed reputation among the community,
- Have in-depth knowledge of the law and the local court system,
- Have access to invaluable resources, and
- Never have upfront costs; you do not pay unless we win.
Contact our Raymore birth injury law firm today.