Birth injuries can require intensive treatment for your baby and disrupt their first few years of life. Many birth injuries can be overcome through prompt treatment and proper medication to manage the symptoms, but the medication and procedures needed to treat an infant may be prohibitively expensive. As a parent, you may wonder how you can afford the treatment your baby needs. If their injuries should have been avoided in the first place and were only caused through your doctor’s negligence, that doctor, the hospital, and any other negligent healthcare providers involved in your delivery or your baby’s care should cover the costs of your baby’s treatment. Fayetteville medical malpractice lawyer Ken Kieklak explains how these cases are handled and how you can file a lawsuit to cover the cost of your baby’s birth injury medication with the help of an Arkansas birth injury lawyer.
Suing for the Cost of Medicine After a Birth Injury
When you file a lawsuit for birth injuries, you are typically entitled to claim any damages that resulted from the negligent healthcare. These damages are often wide-ranging and can cover nearly any harm you can put a dollar value on. The cost of additional healthcare for your baby is one of the most concrete forms of damages and can typically be claimed as part of your lawsuit.
Medication for a birth injury could be necessary for a variety of reasons. An infant’s body has not yet developed to fight off illness, and so additional medication may be necessary to help your child cope with their injuries. Pain medication and anti-inflammatory drugs can help your baby get through the pain and reduce swelling and other issues with inflammation that may contribute to increased pain and suffering. Other injuries may involve more neurological damage and potential seizures and other complications. Additional medication may be necessary to help counteract these episodes or help relax the baby’s muscles.
These meds could be quite expensive. While your health insurance may cover some of the costs, and you may be able to apply for disability benefits to cover the cost of some medication and treatment, you may be entitled to collect damages for this medication and care through a lawsuit If your child’s healthcare provider was responsible for causing the child’s medical needs in the first place, then they should be the ones to pay for the medication.
You can typically claim the full value of any medical care related to the injury through a lawsuit. This can include not only the cost of hospital stays and doctor’s appointments but also the cost of any medication related to the treatment.
Proving Your Medical Malpractice and Birth Injury Lawsuit
Before the court can award damages for the cost of medication and medical bills, you must prove that the doctor was at fault for the injuries. Doctors are not automatically responsible for every complication their patients suffer. While many doctors feel a personal responsibility when their patients have bad outcomes, the fact that there was a bad outcome does not automatically mean that the doctor was responsible, in a legal sense.
For a doctor to be held accountable for their patient’s birth injuries or other complications, the doctor must have committed some type of error or negligence in treating the patients. Many birth injuries occur because of the difficulty of giving birth coupled with limitations in medical science – but other birth injuries are the result of lacking skill or carelessness on the part of the doctor.
If your doctor made mistakes by using or failing to use certain techniques when the situation called for it, you or your baby could be seriously injured. For instance, unnecessary forceps delivery could cause forceps injuries that result in a crushed skull or cause skull bulges and fractures. Inducing labor could cause brain injuries if the baby comes out too forcefully. Failing to address suffocation and strangulation from a nuchal cord could cause brain injuries as well. Moreover, brain injuries and other issues could potentially lead to cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders. These injuries are all often the result of carelessness or poor decisions on the part of your doctor, which can justify holding them accountable.
To prove your case in court, you must show the jury that your doctor was at fault. This is typically done by using a medical expert of your own to testify as to what the standard of care should have been and how your doctor’s decisions and mistakes fell below that standard of care.
You must also prove the damages you are claiming to get the damages you deserve. Medical bills and bank records are typically used to prove the cost of medical care and medication your baby has already received. These damages can also be projected into the future, potentially with the help of a financial expert, so that you can also sue for ongoing or future medication and healthcare needs for your baby.
Call Our Arkansas Birth Injury Attorney for a Free Consultation
If your child faced serious birth injuries during their delivery, and those injuries required additional medical care and expensive medication to treat, call Arkansas personal injury lawyer Ken Kieklak, Attorney at Law, today. Our Fayetteville AR personal injury lawyer may be able to take your case and work to get you the compensation you need for medication and other care costs. For a free legal consultation, call Ken Kieklak today at (479) 439-1843.