White Marsh Birth Injury Lawyer

With over 28,000 cases each year, preventable birth injuries are on the rise in the United States. To prevent birth injuries from occurring, your medical providers should be conducting adequate fetal monitoring while you are pregnant, and those attending during the birth should be competent and well-trained.

Childbirth is never risk-free, but preventable birth injuries that have occurred due to negligence or a lack of due care and attention should not happen, especially with the cost you pay for medical care in our country.

If your baby has suffered an injury that occurred during either your pregnancy, or the birth and you believe that it should not have happened, you need to discuss your case with a skilled White Marsh MD birth injury lawyer. They may be able to help you raise a claim, pursuing potential compensation for the pain and suffering you have both been put through and pursuing the recovery of any damages you have incurred. To discuss your case, call us today at 410-705-2405.

Birth Injuries in the United States

A birth injury case may involve a range of different injuries, from minor to serious. In the most tragic of cases, they may even involve the wrongful death of the child.

Preventable birth injuries may have a lifelong effect on the child, leaving them with impairments and disabilities or affecting their early development.

Here at Peter Angelos Law, each and every medical malpractice lawyer on our team is passionate about helping medical malpractice victims hold those responsible accountable for their actions. We will help you pursue the potential compensation on offer to you, and we will assist you in documenting and calculating your damages so that you can attempt to recover them.

While no level of compensation will reverse the damage or remove the grief and trauma, it may provide you with financial security and the ability to seek the best possible medical attention in the future.

Peter Angelos Law - Speak To a White Marsh MD Birth Injury Attorney about your Medical Malpractice Case

We don't want any victim of medical malpractice to feel like they cannot afford the legal representation they deserve to hold their medical providers accountable. Many victims forgo the chance of doing so under the misconception that the costs of an attorney, or the costs if they lose their case, will leave them worse than they began.

In order to combat this misconception, and in line with our goals to provide reliable representation to all victims, we offer a free consultation and case evaluation to any victim. We will look into your case, answer your questions and listen compassionately to your story.

If you decide you want to proceed, we take medical malpractice and birth injury cases on a contingency fee basis. With no fees to pay upfront to hire an attorney from our team, and no charges if we lose your case, you only pay for our services if we win you a settlement.

Common Birth Injuries Caused By Negligence

There are two main categories of injury caused by negligence during pregnancy and childbirth:

Prenatal Error

Prenatal errors occur for a number of reasons during the pregnancy. The main cause is usually a lack of attention to test results. Adequate monitoring of the fetus, allows for any conditions or problems to be diagnosed in a timely enough manner. This means that conditions are addressed and if necessary treatment can be given.

Conditions like spina bifida can be detected through a number of methods, including ultrasound, fluid tests, and blood tests. This means that if the child is born with spina bifida and your medical providers had no knowledge, it could be down to negligence and could warrant an investigation.

Labor and Delivery Error

The other form of birth injury occurs from errors that happen during the labor or the delivery of the child. Giving birth is already a stressful time for both the child and the mother, and it is extremely important that competent staff are on hand to monitor for any complications. This allows timely decisions to be made if complications arise, reducing the chances of long-term, serious injuries.

If they are not competent, fail to act on time, or act negligently, there are a number of ways that the baby can be injured.

The most common birth injuries include:

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy occurs when the oxygen supply to the baby's brain is restricted. Brain tissue dies when oxygen is not being fed to it, and this can lead to a number of impairments and problems depending upon how severe the oxygen deprivation was.

Symptoms can include:

- Shaking.
- Involuntary movements.
- Delays reaching milestones such as motor skill milestones.
- Poor muscle coordination.
- Weakness in one leg or arm.
- 'Scissored' gait.
- Stiff or tight muscles.

Brachial Plexus Palsy

There are a group of nerves at the top of the arms known as the brachial plexus, and these are vulnerable during birth. If a child's head is pushed or pulled too hard to either side during the delivery or in the womb, these nerves can be damaged, leading to problems with movement in the shoulder or arms.

Improper use of Vacuums

If a mother begins to struggle with the effort of childbirth, a decision may need to be made on whether to assist her. This is called a forced delivery and often involves the use of a vacuum to assist the baby in traveling through the birth canal.

This decision needs to be made correctly as the vacuum comes with its own risks and may cause injury. If done incorrectly, there may be brain damage or swelling of the brain from where the vacuum was attached. Traumatic brain injuries like this may never heal and may lead to permanent impairment or disability.

Filing a Birth Injury Claim in Maryland

The first step in filing a birth injury claim in the state of Maryland is to speak to an attorney and have your case evaluated. If they believe it is valid, and worth pursuing, they will assist you in filing your claim with the Director of Maryland Health Claims.

Once you have spoken to your attorney and your case has been evaluated, if they believe it is worth pursuing, you will begin the process of filing a claim.

Your attorney will help you do this as there will be a series of steps you must follow in order for your case to be heard. It will begin with filing the paperwork to file a malpractice case with the Director of Maryland Health Claims.

Maryland Statutes of Limitation

It is always beneficial to your case if you involve your birth injury lawyers as soon as possible after the incident. Your medical malpractice claim will be easier to win if you give your attorney ample time to investigate, calculate your damages and build a compelling case.

You also have to keep in mind the statute of limitations, which places legal timeframes on how long you have to raise your claim before you are barred from doing so. If you leave it too long to raise your claim, longer than the statute of limitations allows you, you will not be able to claim for that incident.

Maryland's statute of limitations states you have:

- Three years from the date, the malpractice injury or error occurred.
- If, in rare cases, you do not discover the injury until a later date, you may have a longer period, but your time will never exceed five years from the date the injury occurred or three years from the date the injury was discovered.

Damages You Can Recover in Medical Malpractice Claims

Part of the claims process is calculating your damages so that your attorney can consider what your compensation or settlement offer should look like. The more cases they have won and the more experience they have in fighting medical malpractice and birth injury cases similar to yours, the better they will be equipped to do this.

The better they are at calculating a fair and reasonable settlement figure based on your damages, the more likely it is that you will be offered a settlement that you are happy with.

There are two forms of damages in a Maryland personal injury, birth injury or malpractice case.

Economic Damages

Future Care Costs

These include the ongoing costs for medical treatments, hospitalizations, nursing services, medications, and rehabilitation care, among other things.  These costs are typically determined by an expert in life care planning who can determine the needs and services required for the injuries sustained.  A life care planner will also determine the cost of the needs and services required, along with the duration of time they will be necessary over the expected lifetime of the patient.

Lost Earning Potential/Wages

There is a good chance that you have had to take time off work because of the incident. If you have had to take time off to look after your child or seek treatment yourself, you may have suffered lost wages.

This may lead to feelings of anxiety and stress, especially if it looks like you may have to take a prolonged period off work.

Your attorney may also consider what a lifetime of lost earning potential might look like for your child if they have suffered an injury that reduces their capacity for work in the future.

Medical Bills/Expenses

Medical bills can quickly add up, and as the victims of negligence, you should not have to find the costs for treatment and care as a result of an injury that could have been preventable.

Together with your attorney, you can document your medical expenses and seek the full recovery of any costs you have had to pay or will have to pay due to the negligent behavior of your medical providers.

Your attorney may speak to experts so they can gauge how much a lifetime of treatment or therapy may cost your child.

Non-Economic Damages

Next, your attorney will look at your non-economic damages. These damages are more difficult as each one is subjective and needs to be graded by your attorney. The more experience they have in winning settlements, the more accurate they will be here.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering damages cover any pain and emotional suffering you or your child have been through as a result of the incident. The more pain and the more emotional distress the injuries have caused you both, the higher the value placed upon your pain and suffering.

Loss of Enjoyment of Life

Loss of enjoyment of life covers any long-term effects on the quality of life of you or your child. If your child has suffered brain damage and they will never be able to ride a bike or kick a ball, their enjoyment of life will have been affected, and they deserve to be compensated for this.

Wrongful Death

In some cases, birth injuries can be so severe that they lead to the wrongful death of the child or the mother. If you have lost your child, the grief and devastation are unmatched, and you will most likely suffer long-term, if not permanent mental and emotional trauma.

When the injury was through negligence, you have every right to be furious at the medical providers responsible. You deserve to seek justice, and while no compensation will ever bring your child back or ease your grief, it will provide financial security for you to take as long as you need off work.

Four Elements to Prove in Maryland Birth Injury Lawsuits

- The medical provider owes you a duty of care - All medical providers automatically assume and owe a duty of care to their patients.
- The medical provider breached their duty of care - They behaved differently from how a reasonable medical professional would in similar circumstances.
- The breach of their duty of care resulted in preventable birth injuries.
- These injuries led to damages, such as medical expenses.

Which Birth Injury Attorney To Hire For Your Case

Medical malpractice cases have historically led to huge settlement figures or large levels of damages being awarded to the victim. For this reason, medical insurance companies now employ the most aggressive and skilled legal teams they can in order to defend their clients.

This means that making the right choice in regards to the attorney you choose to represent you is massively important. Your attorney should be extremely capable in all aspects of a medical malpractice case, from investigation to damage calculation, negotiation, and if necessary, litigation.

For many people who are considering a malpractice claim, there has never been the need to seek representation before. This can make the decision a difficult one.

Our recommendation is to start by checking your potential attorneys on AVVO, an independent review site that places a rating on attorneys based on a number of factors, such as accolades, awards, years of service, and previous client reviews.

Once you have narrowed down your options, arrange an initial consultation with them and prepare some questions that you want to ask. You should take this time to ensure you get along and feel comfortable with your attorney, as well as feeling confident in their abilities. You may have to work with your attorney for years to come and discuss personal matters with them throughout.

Here are three important things to look for:

- Experience - Medical malpractice cases and birth injury cases are complex and require a lot of knowledge and experience. While almost every personal injury lawyer will cover medical malpractice, we recommend choosing an attorney that dedicates most of their time to working on cases similar to yours.
- Legal Expertise - Your attorney should have full and complete knowledge of all of the relevant laws, rules, and regulations surrounding medical malpractice cases in Maryland.
- Medical expertise - Your attorney will not be medically trained, but they should, as part of their job, have a good understanding of the medical fields and industry relating to your case. Where their knowledge is not adequate, they should have access to medical experts who can advise them.

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