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When a birth injury due to medical mistakes occurs in Los Angeles, medical malpractice attorney counsel should be sought as soon as the parents are aware their child is affected. There are a number of conditions that can occur due to medical malpractice – spastic or botox cerebral palsy are most common, however ataxic, athetoid, brachial plexus injury or Erb’s palsy are the effects of birth injury as well – and the gathering of information in close timing to the birth itself can strengthen the plaintiff’s (parents and child) case.
It’s a difficult and wrenching process, of course. Childbirth should be one of the most exhilarating and rewarding experiences of humanity, filled with hope and expectation on where and how a child will define a family’s life from that time forward. A medical mistake can change those plans completely and when that happens, it is imperative to call a Los Angeles medical malpractice attorney.
It may not seem appropriate to contact a Los Angeles personal injury attorney at first, in part because a child’s injuries are not immediately apparent. California law allows you to file a medical malpractice lawsuit up to three years after the birth injury.
But timely collection of information is a top priority of your medical malpractice attorney. In Los Angeles and elsewhere in California, it’s important to gather medical records, photographs, X-rays, sonograms and MRI documents, a diary kept by the mother of the sequence of events around the birth injury, and independent medical assessments of the child’s condition.
The job of a Los Angeles personal injury attorney is to ascertain whether the injury was due to medical negligence. In the initial stages of working with an affected family, a good medical malpractice attorney in Los Angeles will investigate whether one or several conditions was mismanaged by the health care provider:
- Did medical personnel fail to perform a C-section at a moment when one was warranted?
- Was the mother given inadequate attention by medical staff, perhaps left unattended during critical moments of labor?
- Were vital functions of both mother and infant monitored properly in the pre-natal phase as much as during and after childbirth?
- Was there a poor, inappropriate or wrong response to signs of fetal distress?
- Did the healthcare provider fail to anticipate or manage jaundice (hyperbilirubinemia) or Rh incompatibility?
- Was there uterine hyperstimulation due to improper dosing of medication (often, titrate oxytocin, or Pitocin, which can result in infant brain injury from excessive contractions or rupture of the uterus)?
Once a Los Angeles medical malpractice attorney helps a family identify that a birth injury occurred due to one of these or other causes, an assessment is made of the long-term implications of the injury. The immediate medical needs – including related costs – are considered by the medical malpractice attorney. In Los Angeles and other major metropolitan communities, access to medical and rehabilitative care is extensive. However, costs are relatively high as well. An experienced Los Angeles medical malpractice attorney will have good resources for determining proper and effective services and how to pay for them.
A Los Angeles personal injury attorney will work on behalf of a family for no fees upfront, instead earning his or her compensation based on the award made in a case (typically, around one-third of the payout). This is known as working on a contingency basis. This means that there is no financial risk to a family to meet with an attorney to discuss a possible birth injury claim.
What might be the outcome? Depending on the child’s condition, the costs of care, rehabilitation, special education and lost income over a lifetime – accounting for time when the child outlives his or her parents – can be several million dollars. By California’s “fast track” system, most cases are resolved within 24 months of filing. However, a final settlement should be made after a neurological assessment is made when the child is at least three years old.
Contact Los Angeles Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you have sustained an injury due to medical malpractice and are ready to learn how our Los Angeles medical malpractice attorneys can assist you and your family, please call us today for a free consultation about medical malpractice.
David Drexler is an expert trial attorney who will provide you with wise and compassionate legal counsel and representation through each stage of the process. Remember, you pay nothing if we don’t win your case.
You can contact Los Angeles medical malpractice attorney David Drexler by email, by calling 1-877-99-LA-LAW (1-877-995-2529) or by filling out the form below.
Los Angeles Medical Malpractice Contact Form
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