Practice Areas Boca Raton Medical Malpractice Lawyer Birth Injuries

Boca Raton Attorneys Representing Plaintiffs in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

The birth of a child is a momentous and joyous occasion, but sadly, in some cases, a family’s joy is tainted because the child suffers an injury at birth. Birth injuries can cause significant lifelong harm, but in most cases, they are preventable and are caused by inadequate care during the mother’s pregnancy or delivery. If your child suffered an injury at birth, you should speak to an attorney regarding your right to pursue claims against the negligent providers that caused your child’s harm. The dedicated Boca Raton birth injury lawyers at The Grife Law Firm are mindful of the emotional and financial devastation caused by birth injuries. We will aggressively pursue the full amount of compensation that you are owed.

Common Causes of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries can stem from inappropriate care during a mother’s pregnancy. For example, a physician may fail to address irregular results from a laboratory or diagnostic test or symptoms that indicate an issue that needs to be monitored or treated. Birth injuries also frequently arise due to mistakes committed during the mother’s labor and delivery of the child. For example, a child may be harmed by a doctor’s failure to perform a cesarean delivery in a timely manner, which can result in oxygen deprivation and other serious issues. A doctor may also harm an infant by inappropriately using forceps or other equipment during the delivery. Birth injuries that are commonly caused by negligent medical care include cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, clavicle fractures, and brain injuries.

Pursuing a Claim for Damages Caused by a Birth Injury

If you believe that your child’s birth injury arose out of inappropriate medical care, a birth injury attorney in Boca Raton can help you seek compensation via a medical malpractice lawsuit. A doctor or other health care provider is negligent if he or she fails to provide treatment that meets the prevailing professional standard of care for the circumstances that existed at the time of the injury. A plaintiff pursuing damages in a birth injury case must show that the health care provider’s failure to comply with the standard of care directly and proximately caused the child’s harm. In other words, the plaintiff must show that the child would not have been harmed if the health care provider had met the applicable standard of care. In many birth injury cases, the defendant health care provider will argue that the child’s harm was caused by an unrelated issue that could not have been prevented. Thus, it is critical for the plaintiff to offer testimony from a medical expert to establish that the defendant care provider is responsible for the child’s harm.

Time Limitations for Filing a Birth Injury Lawsuit

One reason to promptly consult a Boca Raton birth injury attorney involves the strict deadlines associated with these claims. Pursuant to Florida Statute 95.11(4)(b), a lawsuit that arises out of a birth injury must be filed within two years of when the incident that caused the harm occurred, or within two years of when the plaintiff discovered or reasonably should have discovered the incident that caused the harm. In any event, a medical malpractice claim must be pursued within four years of the date of the harmful incident, unless intentional misrepresentation, concealment, or fraud prevented the injured person from discovering the cause of the harm within the statutory period, in which case it must be filed within seven years. A modified time limitation applies to cases arising out of birth injuries, however. Specifically, neither the four-year nor the seven-year limitation period will bar a claim brought before a child’s eighth birthday.