Boca Raton Birth Injury Lawyers

Fighting for Families When Negligence Injuries a Mother or Baby

The United States is one of the worst places to give birth in the developed world. Despite the billions of dollars flowing through our healthcare industry each year, our maternal death rate is rising. Infants are in danger, too, from systemic and individual negligence. Families may be left dealing with devastating and often uncurable birth injuries.

You can find justice if your baby was injured due to medical negligence. Filing a birth injury claim with Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen could help you recover compensation for your baby’s care and future long-term expenses. Healthcare providers muster serious resources to fight back against these suits. You need a firm with the capacity to take on serious, high-profile claims. We have a successful track record of recovering significant awards for our clients and can provide support and aggressive representation in your birth injury claim.

Call Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen at (866) 629-1061 to schedule a free consultation with one of our Boca Raton lawyers. We are here to fight for families in birth injury and NICA claims.

Florida Birth Injury and NICA Suits

Florida’s unique Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA) allows parents to file for financial assistance for children injured during childbirth. Parents need to understand how this program affects their right to compensation. Because NICA precludes families from litigating against a negligent doctor, nurse, or facility, it tends to provide less financial support for severely injured children. On the other hand, there is no need to prove negligence in your NICA filing.

Our attorneys can help you determine whether you may be eligible for NICA and, if so, which type of claim is the best to pursue.

Birth Injury Claims We Can Help With

Filing a birth injury claim requires technical knowledge and the resources to take on well-funded medical insurers or facilities. Our attorneys have both. We can help you file a claim for:

• Brachial Plexus Injury
• Cerebral Palsy
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
• Maternal Wrongful Death
• Shoulder Dystocia

Children who sustain these injuries need extensive and costly medical care. They are often left with lasting disabilities that impact the opportunities available to them. Ask how we can help you secure compensation to make sure your child has access to the best care and treatment for thier lifetime.

Birth Injury vs. NICA Claims

NICA covers injuries to a baby’s brain or spinal cord that were caused by trauma or oxygen deprivation during childbirth. Your family will only qualify for this program if you meet all its criteria. Whether you want to fight for inclusion or exclusion depends on your needs.

Some families are attracted to these benefits of NICA claims:

• Claims rarely take longer than 6 months
• The program will pay your attorney fees separately from the settlement you are awarded
• Your family will have a case manager to coordinate care and answer your questions
• Even if you cannot prove doctor negligence, NICA will provide benefits for your child

On the other hand, NICA claims are not for everyone. Parents may want to pursue a birth injury lawsuit instead because:

• The maximum NICA lump-sum payment to a family is only $100,000
• Likewise, the NICA infant death benefit is only $10,000
• Going through NICA means you cannot litigate for further damages
• NICA limits benefits for families who need to renovate their homes to accommodate their child’s disabilities
• NICA is secondary to your health insurance, meaning if the care is covered by your policy, NICA will not pay for it

Whether you are not sure about your eligibility and want to petition for acceptance or you do not want your case to be covered by NICA, ask our lawyers what we can do to support your claim.

Causes of Birth Injury

Childbirth is a delicate process, meaning the slightest error can injure a mother or her baby. Birth injuries are caused by:

• Failure to intervene when a hard or complicated labor threatens the baby’s wellbeing
• Inappropriate or overly forceful intervention

Members of your care team are responsible for properly preparing for the birth of your child, staying attentive, and having the necessary knowledge to make crucial calls if something goes wrong. Monitoring equipment gives them a second-by-second view of both mother and baby’s health. They must know how to use this information to decide when and how to intervene. Most birth injury claims address instances of poor judgment.

Some pregnancies are at a higher risk of birth injuries due to factors that can be identified before childbirth. These include:

• Maternal age
• Cephalopelvic disproportion (a baby whose shoulders or head are broader than the mother’s pelvis)
• Abnormal presentation, such as breech positioning
• High maternal blood pressure
• Maternal diabetes

During childbirth, injury is more likely in cases of:

• Prolonged labor
• Unusually rapid labor
• Extreme prematurity or low birth weight
• Intervention using forceps or vacuum extraction

Birth injuries are not guaranteed when one or more of these risk factors are present, nor are they exclusive to situations that have these warning signs. However, a doctor’s failure to address a risk factor can be evidence in your claim.

Damages in Birth Injury Cases

In a birth injury claim, you will be able to request compensatory and non-compensatory damages. In other words, your settlement or verdict would include both tangible expenses and intangible losses caused by the injury.

We can help you calculate your damages by considering the following factors:

• Medical bills
• Future medical needs
• Therapy (physical, vocational, etc.)
• Other specialized care
• Medications
• Assistive devices
• Accommodations or home renovations
• Lost wages
• Lost earning potential
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional/mental anguish
• Decreased quality of life

Our medical investigators and network of expert consultants identify the full extent of the losses and expenses a family might face due to a birth injury. When you know how much your settlement should be, the initial offer made by an insurer may look paltry in comparison.

Fighting Hard for Boca Raton Families

Dealing with a birth injury means stress and worry, and often new parents don’t think they have time to talk to a lawyer. However, legal assistance can be essential to providing the care your child needs. Our attorneys will take on the bulk of the work for your claim, so you can spend time making sure your baby has access to the necessary care.

Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen has served victims of birth injury since our firm was founded in 1988. Our decades of combined experience and extensive roster of support staff allow us to provide high-quality support and advocacy for every client. Reach out to us today to learn about your legal options after a birth injury. We want to help you plan for your child’s future.

Schedule a free consultation by calling us at (866) 629-1061. Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen is committed to meeting your needs, so if you can’t come to our Boca Raton office, our attorneys will come to you.