Birth Injuries

Fort Lauderdale Birth Injury Lawyer

Causes of Birth Injuries

 Searching for an attorney for a birth injury case in Fort Lauderdale? Medical malpractice or negligence can result in one of the most devastating types of personal injuries: those sustained at birth. When improper or rushed techniques are used in a hospital, newborns can be the ones to suffer the greatest injury and lasting harm. Sometimes, these situations come about as a result of panic in an emergency situation. In other cases, “cost-effective” actions can cause inadequate medical care resulting in injury. Although doctors and nurses are trained, they do not always live up to the standards of their profession. When this type of serious occurs, it is vital to enlist the professional services of a dedicated Fort Lauderdale birth injury attorney.

Birth injuries are some of the most traumatic types of medical malpractice cases, and as a society we want to believe that our medical teams are reliable during the birth process. When this isn’t the case and a negligent act causes injury, you must take action to hold the medical personnel accountable for their actions.

Common Birth Injuries

Some common severe birth injuries include cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injury and facial paralysis. Cerebral palsy is a chronic disorder and is a result of damage to the brain. Some of the most obvious symptoms of cerebral palsy are impaired movement and motor function, and this can come about as a result of difficult labor that causes lack of oxygen to the brain, head trauma, meningitis and infection. Babies who are born with prematurely are more likely to have cerebral palsy.

Brachial plexus injury is another common birth injury, and is defined as weakness or paralysis to the arm caused from a variety of sources at birth. These injuries are related to how the baby was delivered, and this injury occurs in one of every 1,000 births. Brachial plexus injuries are caused by nerve damage and happen usually as a result of improper delivery techniques. Delivery teams and medical personnel should notice when the baby’s shoulder is stuck and must work quickly to deliver the baby in a way that prevents brain injury or death.

During the first three years of a child’s life, they tend to advance quickly and pass many significant milestones. If a child is not advancing as expected, he or she may be suffering developmental delays resulting from a birth injury. Lack of oxygen or lack of blood flow during the birth process can kill brain cells and cause developmental delays. This is yet another reason why doctors must be vigilant to monitor the condition of babies during the labor and delivery process. These types of injuries are still taking place despite new improvements and advancements in medical technology and science, and doctors must be held accountable for unnecessary mistakes and injuries.

Proving malpractice or negligence in a personal injury case can be very technical and complex. Medical records, hospital charts, fetal monitoring tapes, lab results, fetal PH scalp samplings and many other items must be obtained and analyzed. Witnesses, who are sometimes unwilling, will have to make their statements and questioned on what actions were taken and what caused the injury to your baby. Depending on the nature of your case, you may need to obtain the help of other medical experts and professionals who can support your story. Here at Weinstein & Scharf, P.A., we know that legal cases are won and lost on preparation and it is vital that we get to work quickly while the evidence and people’s memories are fresh.

Filing a Birth Injury Lawsuit in Florida

Many birth injuries could have been avoided had proper precautions or actions been taken and we know that the final consequences can be extremely hard on the parents and the child. You may find yourself in the position of having to pay medical bills that you were unprepared for. In addition, your child may need special care and attention now and in the future. Our Florida birth injury attorneys at Weinstein & Scharf, P.A. feel strongly that those responsible for injury to your child should be held fully accountable for their actions. Maximum compensation on your behalf is our goal, and you can trust our injury law firm to work tirelessly for you.

Some of the types of damages that we may be able to obtain for you include economic damages for financial losses you incurred as a result of the injury, and non-economic damages from the emotional and psychological repercussions caused by a birth injury. Additionally, our Florida birth injury lawyers may be able to recover punitive damages for cases where gross acts of negligence took place.