What to Do When Considering a Birth Injury Lawsuit: Tips for Parents
If your child has suffered a birth injury, you may not know whether to file a birth injury lawsuit. Read on to learn some top tips that can be helpful while you’re considering whether to file a birth injury lawsuit.
PRESERVE YOUR RIGHTS TO FILE A CLAIM
In many states, including Pennsylvania, you can file a birth injury claim up to two years after the child turns 18 (i.e., up until their 20th birthday). But you should never wait that long to consult an attorney. If your baby suffered a birth injury, you need to contact a birth injury lawyer as soon as possible to preserve your claims.
While your child’s legal case doesn’t expire until your child turns 20, YOUR case expires two years after you knew or should have known that your child’s birth injury was someone’s fault. Your claim as the parent could be for, e.g., out of pocket expenses, emotional suffering, etc. Parents lose their individual right to sue the healthcare providers after those two years expire.
A birth injury attorney, with sufficient notice, can ensure that you and your child don’t lose your rights to file a lawsuit.
GET YOUR CHILD ACCESS TO CRITICAL CARE
If your child has suffered a serious birth injury, you may be so overwhelmed that you don’t know what to do next. You don’t know how to deal with this massive injury that is afflicting your child. You don’t know whom to talk to, how to navigate various hospital systems, and how to obtain the appropriate medical care for your child. Your birth injury lawyer will help by connecting you with the proper healthcare professionals who can provide thorough medical evaluations, early intervention, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other critical care.
COLLECT CRUCIAL EVIDENCE
There is evidence that is simply crucial and indispensable to the success of your birth injury lawsuit, such as medical records, rehabilitation reports, hospital notes, lab results, photos, etc. Some of the crucial evidence is produced by healthcare systems and some of this evidence will be produced by you! Indeed, you should be documenting your child’s injury and recovery with photographs, videos, and journaling. These pieces of evidence will help establish the medical malpractice that occurred as well as the extent of your child’s injuries, detailing every related issue whether it’s physical or emotional. Your birth injury lawyer will collect this evidence, review it, retain the appropriate experts, and conduct depositions – all of which are key steps in obtaining a successful outcome of your birth injury lawsuit.
If you believe your child has suffered a birth injury, contact the experienced birth injury lawyers at VSCP Law.
