Houston Birth Injury Lawyer

Birth Injuries Can Cause Significant Harm

A birth trauma can lead to a wide range of injuries, from brain injury to permanent disabilities. These damages and their long-term consequences can be overwhelming for both parents and child. Traumatic birth injuries can include:

• Cerebral Palsy
• Brachial Plexis
• Horner’s Syndrome
• Chorioamnionitis
• Bell’s Palsy
• Fetal death or stillbirth
• Shoulder Dystocia
• Labor and Delivery Injuries
• Erb’s Palsy
• Birth Hypoxia or brain damage
• Birth defects caused by medication
• Lifetime of pain, suffering, and mental anguish
• Rh factor incompatibility or Hemolytic anemia caused harmed

Unfortunately, many individuals find themselves forever injured, as a result of the failure by physicians and hospital staff to adhere to the standard of care. Neglectful care can result in permanent injuries and resulting harms including future medical care, the need for medical devices, and prescription medications.  These costs and bills leave many families wondering what compensation is available for babies growing up with birth injuries.

Common Damages in a Birth Injury Case

Damages in birth injury lawsuits are generally categorized as either economic, non-economic, or punitive. Economic damages, also known as tangible losses, encompass the financial effects of the birth injury such as medical costs and home modifications. Non-economic damages tend to cover the intangible effects of an injury, such as the psychological toll it has taken on both the victim and their family.

Let’s take a look at the different types of damages that might be available to you and your family:

• Medical Expenses: Birth injuries often lead to long-term health complications, with some victims requiring extensive care for the rest of their lives. For more severe health complications, such as spinal injuries, a patient’s medical expenses can easily rise into the millions. If the birth injury was caused by the healthcare provider’s negligence, you might be able to recover compensation for both past and future healthcare costs, such as surgeries, physical therapy, in-home nursing care, prescription medication, consultations, and other treatments.

• Lost Earning Potential: While your child may be many years away from having to work, a serious birth injury might affect their ability to get a job in the future. For instance, if they suffered a permanent disability, it may be impossible for them to work at all. These lost earnings can easily add up to millions of dollars. As such, it might be in your best interests to discuss your case with a birth injury attorney. Chelsie King Garza can assess your situation, review the available evidence, and consult with expert witnesses—if necessary—to determine whether your child’s injury will affect their income earning potential.

• Pain and Suffering: As a newborn child is unable to communicate, it can be difficult to determine what he or she is experiencing. However, many birth injuries are incredibly painful, and may not only stunt a child’s development but also lead to psychological issues in the future. An attorney may rely on the child’s medical records, photographs of the injury, and expert witness testimony or deposition to prove such damages.

• Emotional Distress: A birth injury can take a serious emotional toll on the victim, leading to psychological issues that may persist through to adulthood. For instance, if your child has a mental impairment or physical deformation, they may grow up feeling embarrassed and ashamed of their injury. It’s not uncommon for these feelings to manifest as serious mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder. As such, plaintiffs have a right to seek compensation for the psychological effects of their injuries.

• Loss of Consortium: Most parents expect to give birth to a healthy child, but all it takes is one negligent doctor, nurse, or defective medical device to turn those early days of parenthood into a living nightmare. As such, you may be able to seek filial consortium damages for the loss of companionship and affection caused by a child’s death or injury resulting from medical malpractice.

• Punitive Damages: If the healthcare provider or facilities behaved particularly egregiously or extremely carelessly, you may be able to build a case for punitive damages. Unlike compensatory damages, which are designated to help the victim and their family feel “whole” again, punitive damages exist as a punishment to deter the defendant and other parties from committing similar acts in the future.

Contact a Houston Birth Injuries Lawyer

Chelsie King Garza has the knowledge and experience to handle birth injury cases from start to finish.  Contact a Houston birth injury lawyer, Chelsie King Garza, today.