Did your child suffer birth injuries because of a healthcare provider’s error in Brookhaven, Georgia? Contact Malone Law Medical Malpractice and Severe Injury Lawyers at (770) 390-7550 for a free consultation to discuss your case.
Your family may be entitled to compensation for the costs of medical care, disability, and harder-to-value trauma. Our top-rated Brookhaven birth injury lawyers can help you fight for a maximum monetary recovery.
For decades, our firm has been a tenacious legal advocate for victims of medical negligence in Georgia. As award-winning trial lawyers with over 50 years of combined experience, we’ve helped clients win hundreds of millions of dollars in high-stakes medical malpractice cases. We’re ready to fight to get your family justice for your child’s birth injury, too.
Why Choose Malone Law Medical Malpractice and Severe Injury Lawyers to Handle My Birth Injury Case in Brookhaven, GA?
Birth injury litigation isn’t easy or straightforward. You’ll be facing off against a powerful group of defendants, including the negligent healthcare provider, the hospital where your child was born, and at least one insurance company. You don’t just need an attorney in your corner; you need a nationally acclaimed Brookhaven medical malpractice lawyer to stand up and fight for you.
At Malone Law Medical Malpractice and Severe Injury Lawyers, we focus exclusively on high-stakes medical malpractice litigation. Our commitment to our clients is unmatched, as are the results we consistently achieve.
Hiring our law firm to handle your birth injury case makes it clear that you won’t rest until your child’s story has been told. We will leverage our considerable resources, experience, and knowledge of Georgia medical negligence laws to force the defense to make things right.
Contact our law office for a free initial consultation today.
What Is a Birth Injury?
Birth injuries are the result of trauma before, during, or shortly after birth.
Most often, they’re caused by medical errors and mistakes, such as:
- Inadequate prenatal care
- Failure to monitor the child and/or mother during labor
- Failure to detect fetal distress, which can often lead to hypoxia (insufficient oxygen supply)
- Failure to order necessary diagnostic tests or labs
- Misdiagnosis
- Prescription medication errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Improper use of medical devices, including forceps and vacuums
- Failure to perform a timely C-section or emergency surgery
- Failure to identify signs of distress shortly after birth
- Delayed medical interventions
Most of these medical errors are entirely avoidable, but happen because healthcare providers lack necessary training, are distracted or fatigued, or fail to take a mother’s concerns seriously.
How Much Is My Brookhaven Birth Injury Case Worth?
Each birth injury varies, as does the potential value of a related medical malpractice claim for damages.
Factors that can affect your case’s value might include:
- What type(s) of birth injury did your child sustain?
- Is your child expected to recover?
- Will your child be permanently disabled?
- Will the birth injury affect your child’s ability to work or take care of themselves when they’re grown?
- Will your child likely suffer a premature death because of their birth injury?
- What medical bills or out-of-pocket costs will your family have?
- How will the birth injury affect your child’s quality of life?
Some birth injuries might be minor and heal over time. Others might be much more catastrophic and impact your child’s life forever. Different kids will deal with their birth injuries in various ways. The more of an impact the injury has on your child’s life, the more you can reasonably expect to recover through a civil tort action.
What Damages Can Be Awarded to Birth Injury Victims in Georgia?
Following your child’s birth injury, you may be able to pursue compensation from a negligent healthcare provider, hospital, or insurance company.
Your economic and non-economic damages could include:
- Current medical bills
- Future medical expenses
- Medical equipment and devices
- Necessary modifications to your home and/or vehicle to accommodate a disability
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Personal care assistance
- Rehabilitation
- Therapy
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Chronic physical pain
- Disfigurement and scarring
If your child dies because of their birth injury, your family might be able to recover damages for related losses, including funeral, burial, and/or cremation expenses, through a wrongful death action.
Our Georgia birth injury attorneys can help your family navigate this trying time and fight to ensure that you receive full compensation for your child’s injuries and suffering.
What Does it Cost to Hire a Birth Injury Attorney in Brookhaven?
We work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay nothing until we win compensation for you. Even then, nothing comes out of your pocket. Instead, our attorneys’ fees will be deducted from the settlement or jury award we recover on your behalf.
Types of Birth Injury Cases We Handle
Malone Law Medical Malpractice and Severe Injury Lawyers has extensive experience representing families in all types of birth injury cases in Georgia, including those involving:
- Cephalohematoma
- Subconjunctival hemorrhage
- Erb’s Palsy
- Cerebral Palsy
- Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
- Intrauterine hypoxia
- Meconium aspiration syndrome
- Kernicterus
- Periventricular leukomalacia
- Shoulder dystocia
- Infant meningitis
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Skull fractures
- Broken bones
- Caput succedaneum
- Quadriplegia
Our focus on medical malpractice litigation and proven track record of success can be a huge benefit to you as you fight for the compensation your child deserves. Call our birth injury lawyers in Brookhaven, GA, today.
How Do I Prove a Birth Injury Claim?
Like other medical malpractice cases, birth injury litigation often involves negligence by one or more parties.
You will typically need to prove four elements:
- Duty: The defendant owed your child a duty of care (e.g., a doctor-patient relationship existed, so the healthcare provider assumed a responsibility to use the level of care and skill expected of them within their specialty).
- Breach: The defendant’s level of care fell short, which breached the duty of care owed to your child.
- Causation: The defendant’s conduct was a direct and proximate cause of your child’s birth injury.
- Damages: Your child (and your family) has suffered damages (e.g., added costs of medical care, long-term disability, reduced expected lifespan).
When you file a birth injury claim against your OBGYN, a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, or the Brookhaven hospital where your child was born, you’ll have the burden of proving that they were negligent in some way.
How Long Do I Have to File a Birth Injury Lawsuit in Georgia?
Georgia typically imposes a two-year statute of limitations on birth injury lawsuits. However, under the state’s discovery rule, the statute of limitations usually begins to run on the date your child’s birth injury is diagnosed. So, if the injury isn’t evident immediately, there may be exceptions to the deadline.
If no claim is filed on your child’s behalf, they may have the option of pursuing compensation on their own once they’ve reached adulthood. In these situations, the statute of limitations can be tolled until your child’s 18th birthday, giving them until they turn 20 to take action.
Deadlines in these kinds of cases can be complicated, and missing one can affect your chance of recovering damages. So, it’s critical to consult with a Brookhaven medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Brookhaven Birth Injury Lawyer
If your child was injured because a healthcare provider in Brookhaven, Georgia, made a mistake, don’t struggle with the consequences on your own. Instead, call Malone Law Medical Malpractice and Severe Injury Lawyers, and trust our award-winning legal team to fight for the financial accountability you deserve.
Learn more about your family’s rights and how we can help by calling our Brookhaven birth injury attorneys today. We offer free consultations, and you don’t pay anything out of pocket for our services.