Levin and PerConti offer the most useful facts and details of birth injury and the law that protects families from it.
Birth injury litigation comes about when a baby suffers an injury either before birth or during the birthing process because of careless, negligent, or intentional acts on the part of a doctor, nurse, healthcare provider, hospital, or other medical staff or facility. When actions of this nature injure a baby, but do not constitute a criminal act, they are referred to as a “tort”, and these civil wrongs can form the basis for a lawsuit.
When a court determines that a person is legally responsible for causing injury to another they are held liable for that injury, at which point they can be made to pay compensatory damages to the person who was injured. Compensatory damages are restitution that is intended to leave a person in the position that they would have been in had not the injury occurred; they compensate a person for their losses. In cases such as birth injury litigation that involve young children this restitution can be substantial, including past medical expenses, money to cover medical care that will be needed in the future, disability, disfigurement, pain and suffering, and money to provide restitution for loss of a normal life, and the loss of future potential earnings. Determining the figures that will fairly compensate for damages such as these is always difficult, but when a case involves babies and small children the number of factors to be taken into account and the economic calculations (such as inflation) make it vitally important for a parent to seek the counsel of an attorney or law firm with experience in this specific kind of litigation.
The Chicago birth injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti have experience handling all types of birth injury lawsuits, having helped clients across Illinois with matters involving:
- Fetal death occurring before or during birth
- Death or trauma related to incorrect dosage of medicine
- Birth Injury caused by failure to perform a timely Caesarean
- Birth Injury caused by vacuum extraction
- Breech birth complications
- Birth hypoxia and brain damage
- Erbs or Klumpke palsy
- Cerebral palsy and brain damage
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Shoulder dystocia
In late 2010, our Illinois birth injury lawyers recovered a $6.5 million settlement for a young girl who suffered cerebral palsy and mild mental retardation due to a physician’s failure to perform a Caesarean delivery in a timely manner. Other birth-related verdicts and settlements include a $6.71 million birth injury verdict against a hospital arising from an inexperienced resident who performed a vaginal delivery of a breech presentation (bottom first) resulting in shoulder dystocia and a crippling brachial plexus arm injury; a $4.5 million settlement for a child who suffered brain damage causing cerebral palsy as a result of a family practice physician’s failure to perform a timely Caesarean section delivery after the baby was discovered to be suffering fetal distress; a $1.03 million verdict against a doctor for improperly performing the McRoberts maneuver during the delivery of a baby who developed shoulder dystocia during birthing procedure that resulted in a crippling brachial plexus arm injury; and an $850,000 settlement in a matter involving the death of 26 week old fetus.
Injuries suffered at birth can be severely life-altering for both the child and the mother. At Levin & Perconti we understands that your immediate goals are to get your medical bills resolved, and ensure that your insurance company will pay for any future treatment relating to your child’s injury. An experienced Chicago birth injury attorney can discuss your situation and explain the options available to you, as well as work with insurance companies and other parties involved in your case to assure that you and your baby’s needs will be resolved expediently and appropriately. If you or a loved one has been injured, contact us online or call us at 877-374-1417 or 312-332-2872 to set up a free consultation to discuss your legal options.
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