Properly gathering evidence in a birth injury case can make the difference between a successful birth injury case and an unsuccessful one. Read on to understand the steps you should take to properly gather evidence in your birth injury lawsuit in Philadelphia or wherever you are located.
Contact a Lawyer
The person best equipped to help you file a successful birth injury case is an attorney who specializes in birth injury malpractice cases. The sooner you contact this attorney, the more likely you will have a good outcome for your case. Time is of the essence as there is a statute of limitations, which is a law that requires you to file a lawsuit within a certain time period or else you lose your right to sue. Your attorney will explain what evidence you need and how to help in the collection and preservation of it.
Collect and Preserve Evidence
Evidence such as fetal heart monitoring strips, medical records, intake forms, lab slips – all of these are crucial pieces of evidence. This is another reason the first step (“contact a lawyer”) is so essential: your birth injury lawyer can, as mentioned above, tell you what evidence is necessary and will review and digest all of the necessary information because it is essential to your birth injury lawsuit. Your evidence is essential because it supports the argument that the healthcare professionals’ actions or omissions caused your baby’s injuries. This evidence will also help establish the extent of your baby’s injuries, detailing every related issue whether it’s physical or emotional.
Document Your Baby’s Injuries and Conversations with Healthcare Providers
In order to maximize compensation, it will be important to establish that the effects of the birth injury are continually burdensome. Make sure to take photos and videos throughout your baby’s infancy
and childhood to give a visual picture of the impairments your baby is suffering, as well as to document your child’s journey through rehabilitation. Journaling is another way to keep track of your baby’s injuries and progress.
It’s also helpful to document your conversations with healthcare providers. With time, your memory may fade a little so try to write down with healthcare and rehabilitation providers soon after they occur.
Make Sure Your Child is Getting the Medical and Rehabilitative Care They Need
An error that people often make is failing to get follow-up care for their injured baby. Whether it’s out of a distrust of doctors or inconvenience, some people just discontinue seeking medical treatment for their baby after the baby’s medical injury. This is a huge mistake. You may seek a second opinion, you may change doctors, but you should not skip your baby’s critical follow-up care. Further, make sure to document and keep track of all out-of-pocket medical expenses. Extensive follow-up care helps establish your baby’s future care needs for the birth injury case and, hopefully and most importantly, it also helps your baby recover.
Gathering evidence properly is crucial to the successful outcome of your birth injury case. To discuss the possibility of a birth injury lawsuit, contact the lawyers at VSCP Law.
