Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Your Legal Options in the Event of Birth Injury
While a birth injury can affect a child for life, it also has a lasting impact on family members.
Understanding Your Legal Rights
If your child has suffered an injury, or defect related to the birth process or mother’s medication during pregnancy, you can seek legal as well as medical help.
Understanding the range of rights and resources available to you will help you process the issues and seek redress if possible. An attorney who is experienced in birth injuries, medical malpractice or wrongful death can help guide you.
Working with a lawyer on an emotional matter such as the health of your newborn child will be easier if you speak the language. If you doctor hasn’t fully explained the condition resulting from the injury, consult a medical-reference Website such as the National Institutes of Health to get the facts.
Types of Birth Injury Lawsuits
Most birth injury lawsuits are based on harm that the baby incurs during delivery or persistent medication defects prescribed to the mother.
Some birth injuries, such as conjunctival hemmorhage, affecting the eyes, or caput, affecting the head and scalp, are minor and clear up relatively quickly on their own. Other, more serious injuries may require surgery or therapy to correct, or may never disappear.
Birth Injuries
Common acute birth injuries include:
- Fractured clavicle (collar bone)
- Brachial plexus nerve damage (arms and hands)
- Facial paralysis (face)
- Cerebral hypoxia (brain)
Many incidents of natal defects are genetic or otherwise unavoidable. Those brought on by disease are not grounds for prosecution. Some defects, however, may be induced by incorrect or improper drug prescription or drug interactions.
Common serious birth defects include:
- Spina bifida
- Ataxia
- Hydrocephalus
A personal injury attorney can help you determine whether or not you may be eligible for pecuniary damages in a lawsuit.
How to Recover Losses for Suffering
Injury sustained during birth or through a course of drugs during pregnancy affects both child and parent. In the event of a successful court decision, both parties can be awarded a sum to address their physical and emotional trauma.
In order for a case to be successful, you must prove negligence on the part of attending staff and/or the possibility for a certain drug to cause the birth defect sustained.
If you have a case, pursuing it may be the first step toward family healing.
The Massachusetts personal injury law firm, Kiley Law Group will evaluate your case for Free. There are No Fees unless our Boston birth injury lawyers win your case.
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