Birth Injury - FAQ
Q: What's the difference between a birth defect and a birth injury?
A: Birth injuries are generally caused by something that went wrong during child delivery itself, while birth defects usually involve harm to a baby that arose prior to birth, due to something that happened during or before the pregnancy.
Q: What kinds of situations give rise to a lawsuit for birth injuries?
A: Most of these cases occur when a doctor fails to adequately assess or respond to conditions and complications during a woman's pregnancy or delivery, or when a woman takes a prescription drug during pregnancy that causes harm to the baby.
Q: Will a lawsuit always be successful if a baby is harmed through a birth injury?
A: No. Some birth defects (or injuries) are unavoidable. The key question is whether medical providers and/or a pharmaceutical company failed to give you or your baby adequate medical care or medication advice during pregnancy and/or delivery.
Q: What is medical malpractice?
A: Medical malpractice is negligence committed by a professional health care provider--a doctor, nurse, dentist, technician, hospital or hospital worker--whose performance of duties departs from a standard of practice of those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm to a patient or patients. The profession itself sets the standard for malpractice by its own custom and practice.
Q: How common are birth injuries?
A: It has been estimated that, for every 1000 babies born in the U.S., five will be injured during birth.
Q: In a lawsuit for birth injury, how does a jury determine if a doctor's actions were within the standards of good medical practice?
A:
A jury will consider testimony by experts--usually other doctors, who will testify whether they believe your physician's actions followed standard medical practice or fell below the accepted standard of care. A specialist, like an obstetrician, is held to a higher standard of care--that of a specialist--than would be expected of a non-specialist.
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