How Much Compensation Can You Expect From a Birth Injury?
Nearly 30,000 babies are born in the U.S. with birth injuries annually. If your child was born with one recently, contact experienced malpractice attorneys in Wichita, KS, to explore your legal options.
You could collect compensation from the healthcare professional responsible for this injury. Parents who win birth injury lawsuit settlements or judgments may use the money to pay for their children’s long-term care and medical expenses.
So, how much compensation can you expect for a birth injury? It isn’t uncommon for medical malpractice compensation to surpass the million-dollar mark in some cases, but the amount you receive will depend on several key factors.
Learn about them below.
The Severity of an Injury
Babies may sustain any number of birth injuries during labor and delivery. Here are several common examples:
- Brachial plexus injury
- Cephalohematoma
- Cerebral palsy
- Clavicle fracture
- Facial paralysis
- Intracranial hemorrhage
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
Some of these conditions are more serious than others and call for children to undergo extensive treatments for the foreseeable future. Cerebral palsy, for example, causes brain damage that leads to lifelong balance, coordination, and mobility issues.
This could make the compensation in a birth injury case involving this particular condition much higher than the settlement or judgment in a case involving a clavicle fracture that shouldn’t cause lifelong health complications. The severity of a birth injury and its impact on the future will significantly affect how much compensation you can expect to collect.
The Cost of Future Medical Care
Cerebral palsy is far from the only birth injury that will often require lifelong medical care. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and brachial plexus injuries, such as Erb’s palsy, are other examples of injuries that will require children to continue receiving care well into the future.
The treatments associated with these conditions will impact how much compensation you can expect from a birth injury case. The more medical attention your child will need moving forward, the more money you may attempt to claim in a lawsuit.
The Negligence Demonstrated by a Medical Professional
Before you collect a settlement or judgment in a birth injury case, you and your medical malpractice lawyer must prove negligence on the part of a healthcare professional. You need to gather evidence highlighting how a doctor, nurse, or other worker failed to prevent your child from suffering an injury.
The level of negligence demonstrated by this person is another factor that will affect how much compensation to expect from a birth injury case. You might even consider seeking punitive damages if you believe they showed gross negligence during your baby’s birth.
Contact Us To Discover More About Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to the question, “How much compensation can you expect from a birth injury?” It will be based on each factor found here.
After evaluating your case’s details, Larry Wall Trial Law will help you determine its potential value. Call us today at 316-265-6000 to schedule a consultation.
