WHAT IS A BIRTH INJURY?

A birth injury is often defined as any form of injury that a newborn suffers during the labor and delivery process, such as nerve damage, lack of oxygen, or any damage to a baby’s body or brain. But such injuries can also result from improper prenatal care.

Sometimes birth injuries happen even when a skilled doctor or nurse provides care. But more commonly, such an injury can happen at the hands of a doctor who didn’t follow proper medical techniques or utilized a delivery device, such as a forceps or vacuum extractor, improperly.

A doctor can also be held liable for a birth injury if a newborn or mother has suffered harm as the result of negligent or improper prenatal care. This includes failing to diagnose a mother’s medical condition or a disease that could be contagious to the fetus, failing to notice an ectopic pregnancy, and even not identifying birth defects.

Certain combinations of prescription drugs can also cause birth injuries. If a prescription drug taken on the advice of a physician or pharmacist results in an injury to the baby, you may be able to take legal recourse against the doctor, pharmacist, and even possibly a drug company.

BIRTH INJURIES AND BIRTH DEFECTS

As outlined above, birth injuries occur due to largely preventable events. Birth defects, on the other hand, can stem from a wide number of unpreventable reasons, including genetics, the use of alcohol or drugs during pregnancy, and many other unknown factors.

It can be difficult to initially ascertain if complications suffered by the baby are the result of a birth injury or a birth defect. Determining the cause is a critical step in the legal process. It’s possible to recover a claim against a birth injury. But it’s more difficult to do so for a birth defect because of so many factors that could be responsible.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES FOR BIRTH INJURIES

The circumstances surrounding a birth injury can vary. As a result, a birth injury claim can include more parties than just the delivering doctor. Depending on what happened to cause the injury, a claim could be made against the attending nurses, the anesthesiologists, the hospital, and even any pharmaceutical companies that might be at fault.

In general, any medical professional or member of a doctor’s support staff who contributed in some way to the injury can be held liable for the birth injury.

Under certain circumstances, the hospital itself can also be held liable or a claim can fall under what’s called “vicariously liable” (where a party is held responsible, in full or in part, for the actions of a third party) due to the actions of the hospital employees while under the institution’s employment.

If it’s determined that the birth injury was the result of a prescription drug, a claim can be made against the drug manufacturer. it’s the responsibility of a drug manufacturer to ensure that a given drug is reasonably safe when used as prescribed. The doctor, in turn, acts as an intermediary between the drug manufacturer and the patient.

So if a company fails to properly notify a physician of possible dangers or side effects of a particular drug that then results in a birth injury, that company could be held liable. However, this legal avenue can be difficult to successfully pursue.

Birth injury cases can be quite complex. While many times the injury is obvious from the moment of birth, sometimes you may not realize something is wrong for months or even years. And sometimes if you do realize your family has suffered a birth injury, it can be difficult to get a medical professional to admit any wrongdoing.