Birth Injury

One of the worst fears for any parent is a birth injury to their newborn child.  There are many possible causes of birth injuries, including unavoidable and natural causes.  However, all too often our Oregon birth injury lawyers see preventable errors from medical professionals such as doctors, physician assistants, or nurses which cause birth injuries.  This includes reckless, careless, and downright negligent conduct by trusted healthcare providers.  Almost all of these birth injuries are unnecessary and should not have occurred under proper medical care and treatment.

Unfortunately, many times these preventable birth injuries caused by a healthcare provider’s negligence result in permanent, debilitating, and sometimes fatal injuries to children.  This is because a newborn is fragile and vulnerable.  Thus, even minor mistakes can result in egregious injuries to a child that cause a lifetime of debilitating complications.  But when it comes to more serious mistakes, the ramifications could be catastrophic.

Victims of Oregon medical malpractice should call our Oregon birth injury lawyers to learn how we can fight back to protect you and your loved one’s rights.  Our compassionate and experienced staff can work with you and your family to answer your questions, address common concerns, and ensure that your rights to compensation are protected.  We know both the law and medicine to help prove your case before the court.  No matter what type of birth injury case you may have, ask us for a free consultation.

Understanding Birth Injury Cases

A birth injury case is a type of medical malpractice case called a tort, or a civil wrong.  This type of personal injury action is based in negligence, which assesses whether a person’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances.  In a birth injury and medical malpractice case, the standard is whether a healthcare provider acted reasonably as a minimally competent physician would have under the same circumstances.  

If a healthcare provider fails to act as a reasonably prudent provider, there may be a breach in the standard of care.  This is also known as a deviation in the standard of care.  If this breach or deviation caused a child’s birth injuries, there may be causation.  If a victim can establish causation, a victim may be entitled to an award of damages.  In a personal injury action like a medical malpractice case, damages are typically monetary compensation.

Types of Birth Injuries

There are many different types of birth injury cases.  Not every type is treated the same.  For instance, some birth injuries cases will require significant review from experts to determine what happened, why it was a deviation of the standard of care, and whether the medical professional’s deviation caused the birth injury.  Whereas other types of birth injury cases are obviously Oregon medical malpractice and, while requiring some expert review, can be brought into court quicker.

Some examples of birth injuries which could be due to medical malpractice include the following:

• Brachial plexus injuries;
• Cerebral palsy;
• Kernicterus;
• Sepsis or infection;
• Spinal cord injuries;
• Hypoxic injuries;
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy or HIE;
• Broken bones;
• Wrongful death;
• Facial paralysis;
• Disfigurement from cuts, scars, and other wounds;
• Umbilical cord ruptures;
• Loss of a limb due to amputation;
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) or brain damage; and
• Many other types of injuries.

Common Causes of Birth Injuries in Oregon

There are many common causes of birth injuries in Oregon, many which are due to preventable medical errors. Indeed, although many healthcare providers do an exceptional job at protecting the health of our babies, some do not for variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include lack of skill or ability, while other reasons include larger themes like understaffing, whereas additional reasons include purely reckless, careless, or outright negligent conduct. Sadly, nearly all of these reasons are difficult to detect without the assistance of an Oregon birth injury lawyer such as ours in Bend, OR and Portland, OR.

Some of the most common causes of birth injuries in Oregon that families should be aware of to protect the rights of their loved ones include the following:

• Poor communication between physicians and nurses
• Understaffing
• Inappropriate assignments (i.e., too many patients or assigning a nurse to a patient that requires a higher level of care)
• Failing to transfer to a NICU or higher level of care
• Drug mix-ups
• Intubation errors
• Delays in treatment
• Lack of physicians on staff
• Inability or lack of skill
• Poor training and monitoring, and
• Other negligent causes that may be below the standard of care and result in medical malpractice claims against a healthcare provider, hospital, or another type of facility in Oregon.

If you or a loved one suspect that you may have been the victim of medical malpractice, or if you believe that a loved one suffered birth injuries due to the negligence of a healthcare provider, call our birth injury lawyer in Portland and Bend for a free consultation.

What Compensation Could I Get in an Oregon Birth Injury Case?

What a party can recover in a lawsuit is known as “damages.” This is what relief that a court could issue to a party in a judgment or what a party could obtain in a settlement. The type of damages that a party is entitled to depend on the type of case, as the relief a party in a divorce or contract case is very different than the type of relief in a personal injury case – which is often monetary relief.

Birth injury cases are a type of medical malpractice cause of action (or claim), and are therefore also a type of personal injury case. Since it is impossible to undo injuries caused to a person, the damages in personal injury cases often take the form of monetary compensation. This compensation can be awarded for many different types of harm caused to a victim of a birth injury, including the following:

• Past pain and suffering;
• Future pain and suffering;
• Lost wages (parents or guardians specifically);
• Lost future earnings;
• Medical bills, both past and reasonably proven in the future;
• Loss of society, familial interaction, guardianship, guidance, and related claims;
• Loss of consortium;
• Nursing care, including in-home or a higher level of care at a facility;
• Home or vehicle modifications;
• Medications;
• Treatment for therapies;
• Punitive damages; and
• Other types of compensation that an Oregon birth injury lawyer may be able to identify and obtain for you and your family.

Why Hire a Birth Injury Lawyer?

While technically any lawyer can handle a birth injury case, especially any personal injury lawyer, when your loved one is injured you want to hire Oregon birth injury lawyers that focus their practice on birth injuries and medical malpractice. This is because medical malpractice cases, especially birth injury cases, are incredibly specialized and require considerable knowledge of both the law and medicine.  There are even special rules regarding Oregon medical malpractice cases that do not exist in other cases that some lawyers not practicing birth injury law or medical malpractice may not be aware of .  This is why you need to retain a lawyer that handles these types of cases.

Even though lawyers can be expensive, most Oregon birth injury lawyers use a contingency fee agreement.  This means that you will only pay for your medical malpractice injury lawyer if a verdict, award, or settlement is made in your favor.  Thus, you have no risk if your case does not win or result in any recovery.  This allows you to focus your money not on paying a lawyer, but covering the costs of your loved one while you case is heard in court.

Oregon Birth Injury Lawyers in Bend, OR and Portland, OR

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured or killed as a result of medical malpractice contact the Oregon Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Kuhlman Law at our number below or fill out the intake form.  We offer a free initial case evaluation and handle cases on a contingency fee which means that you pay no money unless we recover.  

We handle cases throughout the state including Bend and Portland Oregon, Redmond, Central Oregon, Multnomah County, Deschutes County, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, Lane County, Medford, Gresham, Albany, Medford, Beaverton, Umatilla, Pendleton, and Hillsboro.  

We also have an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota and take medical malpractice cases throughout the Twin Cities, including St. Paul, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Dakota County, Washington County, Anoka County, Scott County, Blaine, Stillwater, and Saint Paul Minnesota.

Please act quickly, there is a limited time (Statute of Limitations) in which you can bring a claim under the law.