Higher Compensation Requires Higher Standards
When your child’s birth injury results in permanent disability, you and your loved ones may face emotional devastation as well as significant medical and rehabilitation expenses to provide your child with a better future.
Wapner Newman understands how tough and scary such times can be for families dealing with birth injuries. Our Woodbury birth injury lawyers use all relevant resources at their disposal to help families in Pennsylvania and New Jersey get the compensation they deserve, ensuring they can cope with their children’s needs.
Not all birth injuries to newborns are the result of medical negligence. Most pregnancies occur without complications. However, there are instances when preventable medical errors happen during pregnancy and delivery. If your newborn has sustained birth injuries due to medical negligence, reach out to our Woodbury birth injury lawyers to discuss your legal options.
What Sets Us Apart
At Wapner Newman, our birth injury lawyers from Woodbury are experienced litigators who are ready to offer you sound legal counsel and representation. Our legal team has handled high-profile medical malpractice cases and secured major victories for our clients. Not only has our reputable medical malpractice law firm been part of some of Pennsylvania’s largest settlements, but we have also ensured that we always prioritize our clients’ needs.
Our legal team understands the importance of building strong relationships with our clients. With our experienced lawyers by your side, you can rest and take care of your child, knowing that your birth injury case is in safe hands.
Our team won a $7 million settlement in a birth trauma case caused by a lack of oxygen during labor. We also secured a $5 million settlement for a child who suffered birth asphyxia because of a delay in the diagnosis of fetal distress. Many of Wapner Newman’s clients have shared their experiences and positive reviews regarding their legal representation and medical malpractice settlements.
Types Of Cases Our Birth Injury Attorneys Handle
The Pennsylvania birth injury attorneys at Wapner Newman have handled many types of birth injury claims. There are countless types of birth injuries, each presenting its own set of challenges for children and their families.
Birth Injuries and Your Baby
Birth injuries can leave your child with permanent disabilities or have even more terrible consequences. Here are a few examples of injuries suffered during birth:
- Cerebral palsy
- Shoulder dystocia
- Brachial plexus injury
- Erb’s palsy
- Hypoxia (oxygen deprivation)
- Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy
- Spastic quadriplegia
- Cephalohematoma (bleeding in the skull)
- Brain damage
- Fractured bones (skull, collarbone, etc.)
- Perinatal stroke
- Infections
- Facial nerve palsy
- Preeclampsia
- Spina bifida
- Genetic abnormalities misdiagnosed in utero
- Infections that can pass from mother to fetus such as chorioamnionitis and H-flu
- Stillbirth (which can be due to issues such as placental abruption, intrauterine growth restrictions, and infections).
Many times, grieving parents are simply told that there was a “complication” during their child’s birth. While this is sometimes true, doctors can also use this as an excuse to hide behind their mistakes. If your doctor is unable or reluctant to answer certain questions about your child’s birth injury, we can investigate the circumstances of the birth to determine whether medical negligence occurred.
Birth injuries can be devastating, completely altering the course of the lives of parents and children. They can also end in the death of a child. If there was medical malpractice, it is our goal to ensure that the responsible party is held to the letter of the law.
Birth Injury Damages
A birth injury can cause serious financial, physical, and emotional hardship. When such an injury happens due to a doctor’s, nurse’s, or other medical practitioner’s negligence, the injured party may be awarded compensation, known as “damages.”
If your child suffered from an avoidable birth injury, here are some damages that may be awarded:
- Medical bills
- Pain and suffering
- Ongoing care
- Loss of income
- Diminished earning capacity
- Shortened life expectancy
- Cost of assistive devices.
We know that money is not going to bring your child back or reverse the pain and suffering that they and your family are going through. However, it can help make caring for a disabled child easier, help you pay off medical bills that are associated with the event, and help you to keep your family going during these trying times.
To determine the value of your claim, our birth injury lawyers from Woodbury will gather and analyze evidence, such as your child’s medical records, to determine the extent and severity of the injury. Wapner Newman will also analyze your child’s current and future medical bills, your lost wages, and your family’s psychological distress to arrive at an accurate estimate of your child’s birth injury damages.
When Birth Injury is Caused by Negligence in Pennsylvania
The natural contortions and contractions involved in childbirth can be hard on an infant, making birth injury an unfortunate possibility. However, many factors that contribute to birth injuries can and should be avoided by an attentive physician.
Some examples of negligence that often lead to birth injury include:
- Oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery
- Prescription drugs (such as SSRIs) taken by the mother before or during pregnancy
- Failure to use proper delivery techniques
- Failure to perform a C-section in a timely manner
- Failure to properly interpret fetal heart rate monitor tracings
- Improper use of delivery instruments (such as forceps and vacuum)
- Failure to monitor a mother or child
- Medication errors
- Untreated child injuries.
If you believe your child’s birth injury was the result of medical malpractice or medical negligence in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, please contact Wapner Newman today to schedule a free initial consultation with an experienced Woodbury birth injury lawyer. Our medical malpractice attorneys in Pennsylvania can help you uncover the truth about how and why your child’s birth injury occurred.
Birth Injuries vs. Birth Defects
It’s important to know the difference between a birth defect and a birth injury. A birth defect is an illness or condition that develops during pregnancy, while a birth injury is a preventable injury suffered before, during, or after birth. Birth injuries often stem from a healthcare provider’s carelessness or negligent care.
This distinction matters because birth defects are not sufficient grounds for a legal claim, whereas birth injuries warrant an investigation to determine whether the healthcare provider’s actions failed to meet the medical field’s standard of care.
Doctors and nurses are held to a specific standard of care for patients and their families. When they fall below that standard of care or willfully cause damage to their patients, it is our job to make sure they are held accountable.
Birth Injury Lawyers Fighting for Your Family’s Future
Birth injuries are tragic events for families. They impact several lives in unthinkable ways. The immediate and lifetime costs of these injuries can take a great physical, emotional, and financial toll on children and their parents. When an injury was caused by negligent medical care, families should expect compensation for the costs they encounter.
When clients come to us with birth injury cases, we know that they are trusting us to help them deal with one of life’s greatest challenges. We take that role seriously, and we devote our full resources to get families the payment they need.
Our job as representatives of a family is to ensure they have the tools they need for a stable and secure future. If you and your loved ones are considering taking legal action against a negligent healthcare provider, you need a firm that you can trust.
No amount of money will heal a child’s injury, but a successful birth injury claim can lighten the burden a family carries and offer financial security. For many families, these claims also represent accountability and justice for the harm their child has suffered.
Birth Injury FAQs
Common Questions For Our Birth Injury Attorneys In Woodbury
Can a birth injury be considered medical malpractice?
Most cases of birth injury are going to fall under the scope of medical malpractice. This means that when a lawyer goes after a doctor for a birth injury, they are going to be filing a medical malpractice suit that can then result in the loss of their medical license, a medical malpractice insurance payout, and more.
When should I start my lawsuit?
It is always best to start a birth injury or malpractice suit as soon as you notice that there is something amiss. You should get a second opinion from other doctors, ensure that you are taking the time to get your child necessary medical attention, and contact a lawyer as quickly as possible before the negligent doctor has a chance to do the same to another child and family.
Will you work with us from start to finish?
Our team will work with you from the very first day until you get a settlement. We will help to collect the pertinent evidence that is needed to move forward with the case, we will help speak to the other side on your behalf, and we will help you move forward without stress so that you can focus on your child and their overall well-being.
Woodbury Birth Injury Lawyers Fight for Your Family’s Rights and Interests
No amount of money can heal your child’s birth injury. Nonetheless, a successful birth injury claim can help to ease the financial burden your family bears due to a medical provider’s negligence. Successful claims also represent justice and offer a sense of accountability in the healthcare sector for the harm suffered by your child.
If you believe a medical professional is to blame for your child’s birth injury, call (215) 569-0900 to speak to the Woodbury birth injury lawyers at Wapner Newman. We are ready to discuss your legal options as well as answer any questions that you may have. Wapner Newman serves clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Get started now to find out if you have a case.