Giving birth is one of life’s most treasured experiences, but sometimes the process can be stressful. Occasionally, medical professionals violate their patient’s trust by making a medical error that results in a serious birth injury. If your family is in this situation, our Missouri birth injury lawyers know how to help.
- Over forty years of combined courtroom experience.
- Attorneys who focus on Missouri birth injury cases.
- Families we represent have recovered millions.
If your family is looking for answers after your child’s birth injury, we can help you find them.
Our Missouri-based legal team has the knowledge, experience, and courtroom skills you need to build a successful birth injury malpractice claim.
"A True Advocate." Laurence's experience and knowledge were invaluable in our case.
Though rare, birth injuries still affect families in Missouri and throughout the United States every day. Roughly 7 in every 1,000 births involves an injury to the child, which means that each year, about 525 Missouri families find themselves in this situation. If your family is part of this group, it’s important to know that you’re not alone, and that there are ways you can find answers and support for your child.
Our Missouri birth injury lawyers serve victims of medical malpractice in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and throughout the rest of the state. With the assistance of medical experts, we can determine if medical negligence is to blame for your child’s injury and hold negligent medical professionals liable for the financial compensation your child needs and deserves.
What Are Some Common Medical Errors In Birth Injury Cases?
Medical errors during pregnancy, labor, and delivery can lead to serious birth injuries. Some injuries may occur even when healthcare professionals do their jobs well, but many are the direct result of these errors.
Some of the most common medical mistakes that lead to birth injuries include:
- Failure to anticipate or properly respond to birth complications – For example, conducting a vaginal birth for an abnormally large child could lead to birth complications, while a c-section could prevent them.
- Failure to identify and treat signs of fetal distress – Such as an irregular heartbeat or a prolapsed umbilical cord.
- Improper use of assisted delivery tools – E.g. vacuum extractors and forceps
- Excessively pulling on the infant’s head or shoulders during a difficult delivery – This can result in brachial plexus injuries due to nerve damage.
- Making a prescription error – Sometimes, the wrong prescription can have harmful side effects for a developing infant.
Any time a medical professional deviates from the accepted methods of their medical field and an injury occurs, that medical professional can be considered medically negligent. This is the most important part of a birth injury malpractice lawsuit.
Common Serious Birth Injuries
Some birth injuries result in direct physical injuries, such as broken bones or bruising. These injuries are often treatable. However, sometimes a birth injury leads to severe cognitive and physical disabilities that can last throughout a child’s life.
Some of the most common serious birth injuries include:
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
- Spastic quadriplegia
- Cerebral palsy
- Erb’s palsy
- Traumatic brain damage
- Nerve damage and brachial plexus injuries
Medical Malpractice Laws In Missouri
Like all states, Missouri has their own laws and legal statutes that regulate medical malpractice cases. It’s good to be aware of your state’s laws, but be aware that how these laws apply varies widely depending on the specific circumstances of your case. In order to fully understand your legal rights, it’s best to discuss your family’s situation with an experienced Missouri birth injury lawyer.
What Is The Time Limit For A Birth Injury Claim?
Missouri has a time limit for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit – this is known as the statute of limitations. Determining when this time limit begins and ends can be complicated, and even more so for birth injury cases.
If you fail to file your lawsuit within this time limit, you will lose your right to seek financial compensation. Because of how strict this rule is, we advise speaking with a birth injury malpractice lawyer as soon as you can following your child’s injury.
How Much Financial Compensation Can I Recover?
In 2015, Missouri became one of many states to set a damages cap on the amount of financial compensation that can be recovered in a medical malpractice lawsuit. This is set at $400,000 for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering or loss of quality of life. Economic damages like medical expenses and lost wages are compensated based on their direct costs.
Determining how much your case may be worth requires a careful overview by both medical and legal professionals.
Affidavits Of Merit & Expert Testimony Requirements
In Missouri medical malpractice cases, the plaintiff must file an affidavit of merit within 90 days of filing the medical malpractice complaint. This affidavit must state that qualified medical expert agrees that your healthcare provider was negligent in some way, which directly caused your child’s birth injury.
Filing A Birth Injury Malpractice Lawsuit
Missouri birth injury malpractice lawsuits involve complex state laws, litigation with powerful insurance companies and their lawyers, and the gathering and presentation of detailed medical evidence. It’s important to find a law firm with experience in such cases and with connections to local medical experts.
Our Missouri birth injury lawyers have helped families throughout the state recover the financial support their children need. We’d be happy to listen to your family’s story in a free consultation, and will only ask for payment as a percentage of your final payout after the case is complete. Contact us today to begin planning for your child’s future.