If your child has suffered a birth injury, you might want to consider filing a birth injury claim in Cleveland to help recover damages and help your child throughout his or her life. For most parents, the last thing on their mind after a difficult labor and delivery is filing a lawsuit. However, a birth injury lawsuit in Cleveland might be necessary to help care for your child throughout the years to come. You should address your baby’s emergency care and medical treatment right away, and you will have to learn to care for your child’s special needs. Although there are several things to consider and address when your child has suffered birth injuries. Caring for a child’s birth injury can be very challenging and expensive, so you should consult with an experienced Cleveland birth injury lawyer who can help you get the compensation you deserve to take care of your child in the years ahead.
Why Should I Consult with a Birth Injury Lawyer?
If you believe your child’s birth injury was the result of medical malpractice, a birth injury lawyer can help you get peace of mind by helping you uncover the truth
Talk to a Birth Injury Lawyer in Cleveland about a potential claim.
behind what happened and if it could have been prevented. There are some cases where birth injuries happen for unknown reasons, and there are instances where birth injuries still happen despite the attending physician and nurses doing their jobs right. Unfortunately, however, sometimes birth injuries occur because an Ohio healthcare provider has made mistakes during the birthing process.
When a claim for a birth injury in Cleveland is being pursued, your personal injury lawyers will work with top-rated medical professionals such as pediatric neurologists, neonatologists, life care planners, and nurses. These are experts who will regularly meet with you and your child, so you can create a care plan that can be used right away to help you take care of your child. Your life care plan will help your child’s medical team as he transitions into adolescence, his teen years, and even adulthood.
Why file a birth injury lawsuit? A lawsuit can help relieve the stresses associated with raising a special needs child. A successful case will help you get a settlement that will help you with the financial costs associated with raising your child. Caring for a special needs child is expensive, and if you don’t get extra help, you might end up relying on taxpayer help through limited government assistance such as Medicaid and Social Security. A successful birth injury lawsuit in Cleveland will help you get financial freedom so you can make decisions regarding the medical care and treatment pursued for your child along with educational opportunities and other child development needs.
Guidelines for Pursuing a Cleveland Birth Injury Lawsuit
When birth injuries are involved, there are at least two kinds of deadlines that you need to be aware of in regards of filing a Cleveland birth injury claim. These two deadlines involve notice requirements and the statutes of limitation. Knowing the exact deadline regarding your particular birth injury claim can be challenging, so you should consult with a Cleveland birth injury lawyer to get information regarding the exact deadline and how it will impact your claim. If you wait too late to bring a birth injury claim, so the claim is filed after the deadlines have passed, you might not be successful with your claim. It is never too late to consult with a personal injury lawyer because there might be exceptions to your claim. There are some exceptions that allow adult children to recover damages from birth injury claims that occurred decades ago.
Requirements Regarding Notices in Cleveland
All Ohio medical malpractice cases, including Cleveland birth injury claims, should be supported by an affidavit of merit, which must be supported by an expert witness. Not all medical claims in Ohio require this statement, but many lawyers opt to do this. The expert witness must be licensed to practice medicine and must spend at least 75% of his or her professional time in the clinical practice of medicine. The affidavit of merit is required to have statements that affirm the expert witness has thoroughly reviewed the available records and has made himself or herself familiar with the case and the applicable standard of care and has the opinion that the defendant (medical provider) has breached the standard of care and that led to the birth injury in question.
There is a one-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice and birth injury claims. That time limit starts to run from the time when the injury either was discovered or should have been discovered or when the patient and doctor relationship for the condition that is being questioned ends. Ohio requires that all medical malpractice claims be filed within four years, including those pursuing birth injury claims. The defendant should be filed with an affidavit of merit, which puts the doctor on notice that there is an intent to sue before the lawsuit has been filed. This filing of intent gives your birth injury lawyer an additional 180 days to prepare the case before actually filing the lawsuit. It acts as a way to pause the statute of limitations regarding the Cleveland birth injury claim. However, a child can file his or her claim for injuries that were sustained by medical malpractice while he or she was a minor after becoming an adult. Usually, this claim must be filed by the time the child is 18 or 19, depending upon the situation.
The Birth Injury Claim in Cleveland, OH
When there is a birth injury claim, there are usually two claims. These two claims might have different requirements or statutes of limitation and depends upon the current state law. The first claim is the parents’ claim and is to seek damages to cover the cost of the child’s medical care from birth to age 18 as well as pain and suffering on their behalf for witnessing their child’s suffering and difficulties. The second claim is for the child and is designed to cover care and medical expenses for the child after age 18, along with pain and suffering damages that are incurred.
Consult with a Birth Injury Lawyer
If you or your child have suffered from birth injuries caused by medical malpractice, you should consult with an experienced Cleveland birth injury attorney. With more than 190 years of combined personal injury experience, the team at Ohio Car Accident Lawyers will help you pursue the damages that you have suffered so you can continue to get the care needed throughout life.
