If your child has a cognitive developmental disability from a birth injury, you may have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
An injury to a newborn during childbirth, particularly one involving head trauma, may lead to a number of cognitive developmental disabilities later in life, including ADHD, learning disabilities, and cerebral palsy. Birth trauma often occurs because a doctor or healthcare provider is negligent or fails to provide proper treatment during the delivery process.
If your child has a cognitive developmental disability that you believe resulted from a birth injury caused by a doctor or healthcare provider’s negligence, you may have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. A lawyer from Newsome | Melton can help you recover compensation. We offer a free case evaluation and never collect a fee until you recover money. To speak with a member of our staff, call us today at 888-526-8947.
Cognitive Developmental Disabilities Caused by Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can lead to long-term complications, including cognitive developmental disabilities. A baby who suffers head trauma at birth may have a higher chance of developing ADD/ADHD, cerebral palsy, and various learning disabilities.
In some cases, head trauma and other birth injuries are unavoidable. Even in these situations, a doctor has a duty to recognize that an injury has occurred, diagnose it promptly and correctly, and order the appropriate treatment. Failure to do so still constitutes medical malpractice.
Head trauma may also result because a doctor or healthcare provider, such as a nurse or physician’s assistant, is negligent or behaves wrongfully during the delivery. In such cases, we can recover damages from the responsible party by linking their actions to your child’s injuries.
Cognitive developmental disabilities associated with birth injuries include:
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy, a movement disorder associated with damage to the developing brain, is linked to two specific types of birth injuries: head trauma and lack of oxygen to the brain. Both of these injuries are often preventable when the medical staff is diligent and exercises due care.
If your baby suffered a brain injury and subsequently developed cerebral palsy, our team can conduct a full investigation to determine how strong the link is between the injury and your child’s condition.
ADD/ADHD
Research suggests head trauma at an early age may be associated with a higher risk of developing ADD or ADHD during childhood. If the evidence shows it is more likely than not that your doctor’s negligence ultimately led to your child’s attention disorder, we can pursue your doctor (or a member of his medical staff) for malpractice damages.
Other Learning Disabilities
Birth injuries are linked to a number of other cognitive and learning disabilities as well. No matter your child’s condition, our team wants to hear from you, and we can let you know if you have a strong case for medical malpractice.
Newsome | Melton Helps You Build a Medical Malpractice Claim for Your Child’s Birth Injury
If your child suffered a birth injury that led to the development of a cognitive disability, the medical malpractice lawyers at Newsome | Melton can help you hold your doctor or another healthcare provider liable.
We will help you build a strong medical malpractice claim that proves four essential facts:
- You were owed a duty of care by your doctor or the responsible staff member;
- The responsible party did not uphold his duty of care;
- Because of the party’s negligence, your child suffered a birth injury, and that injury led to a cognitive disability;
- Because of your child’s condition, you have incurred economic and non-economic damages.
Duty of Care
First, we need to show that the responsible party owed you a duty of care. This duty exists between all medical staff and their active patients. If the responsible party was a doctor, nurse, lab technician, physician’s assistant, or any other healthcare provider, an implied duty of care likely exists.
Failure to Uphold Duty
Second, we have to show how the responsible party failed to uphold his duty. We typically show this failure by comparing the responsible party’s actions to those one would expect from a “reasonable person” in the same situation. By reasonable person, we mean another healthcare provider with the same education and training presented with the same situation.
To show the responsible party did not act as a reasonable person would, we can bring in medical expert witnesses to play the role of a reasonable person and offer testimony.
Birth Injury Leading to Cognitive Disability
Third, we must connect the responsible party’s failure of duty to your child’s disability to show that it is more likely than not that one led to the other. We can make this case by presenting all types of evidence, including medical records, doctor’s statements, lab test results, medical studies, and expert witness testimony.
Economic or Non-Economic Damages
Fourth, we must list the economic and non-economic damages you have suffered because of your child’s condition.
Newsome | Melton Helps You Recover Compensation for Your Losses
At Newsome | Melton, our birth injury lawyers work to pursue compensation for the economic and non-economic losses you have suffered because of your child’s condition. These may include:
- Current and future medical bills
- Lost wages
- Current and future costs of care for your disabled child
- Pain and suffering and inconvenience
- Emotional anguish
- Scarring and disfigurement