What Legal Options Do Parents Have After a Preventable Birth Injury?

If your child has been diagnosed with a preventable birth injury, understanding your legal options is important. Not only can medical care for all types of birth injuries be incredibly expensive; but, in many cases, birth injuries can impact children’s lives well into adulthood as well. Taking legal action allows parents to seek financial compensation for the financial and non-financial costs of their children’s preventable birth injuries, whether a full recovery is possible or coping will be a lifelong endeavor. 

Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim for a Preventable Birth Injury 

Generally, seeking financial compensation for the costs of a preventable birth injury involves filing a claim for medical malpractice. Under Illinois’s medical malpractice laws, obstetricians and other healthcare providers (and the facilities in which they work) can be held liable when they make mistakes that lead to birth injuries that could—and should—have been avoided. 

Filing a medical malpractice claim in Illinois involves following strict procedures, especially when the case involves a preventable birth injury. As a result, hiring an experienced medical malpractice lawyer is strongly recommended. When you hire a medical malpractice lawyer to handle your family’s claim, your lawyer will assist you with taking key steps including:

• Proving that Your Child’s Birth Injury was Preventable – To file a medical malpractice claim, you must be able to prove that your child’s birth injury was preventable. This involves engaging a medical expert who can review your child’s medical records and provide a clear explanation about what could—and should—have been done differently. 
• Proving that Medical Malpractice is to Blame – The fact that a birth injury was preventable doesn’t necessarily mean that the birth injury is indicative of medical malpractice. To establish a claim for medical malpractice, you must be able to prove that the mistake in question reflects a deviation from the relevant standard of care. 
• Calculating the Lifetime Costs of Your Child’s Diagnosis – Along with proving that your family has a medical malpractice claim, you must also be able to prove how much your family is entitled to recover. This involves calculating the lifetime costs (both financial and non-financial) of your child’s preventable birth injury diagnosis. 
• Filing the Requisite “Notice of Intent” – Medical malpractice claims are subject to certain special requirements in Illinois. One of these is the requirement to file a “Notice of Intent” before filing a lawsuit.
• Dealing with Your Healthcare Provider’s Insurance Company – After filing the requisite Notice of Intent, the next step is typically to deal with the healthcare provider’s insurance company. Nearly all healthcare providers have medical malpractice insurance, and resolving a medical malpractice claim often involves negotiating an insurance settlement. 
• Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit if Necessary – While resolving a medical malpractice claim often involves negotiating an insurance settlement, going to court will be necessary in some cases. If you need to take your family’s case to court, this will involve filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in the appropriate jurisdiction. 
• Advising You Regarding Any Settlement Offers that Are On the Table – Regardless of whether your family’s claim gets to the point of filing a lawsuit in court, settling will remain a possibility throughout the process. You only get one chance to settle your family’s preventable birth injury claim, so it is extremely important that you make an informed decision.

While filing a medical malpractice claim can be challenging, Illinois parents have clear legal rights, and parents can hire a medical malpractice lawyer to represent them at no out-of-pocket cost. Ultimately, going through the process will be well worth it if it means securing the financial resources your family will need for the future. 

Starting the Process 

Learning that your child has suffered a preventable birth injury can be overwhelming. Doing your best to make informed decisions about your legal options can be overwhelming as well. 

But, in this situation, it is important not to let feeling overwhelmed stop you from moving forward. To start the process, you can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a Chicago birth injury lawyer. An experienced attorney will be able to provide personalized legal advice based on your family’s circumstances, and then you can use this advice to make informed and confident decisions about your next steps.  

Talk to a Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer for FREE 

A preventable birth injury can change the course of your child’s life and your family’s future. At Coplan + Crane, we understand the emotional and financial toll these situations can take, and we are committed to helping parents across Illinois hold negligent medical providers accountable.

Our experienced Chicago birth injury lawyers have helped families recover the compensation they need to cover long-term care, lost opportunities, and the pain that never should have happened in the first place.

Contact Coplan + Crane today online or at (312) 982-0588 for a FREE case evaluation. We help clients across Illinois, including Chicago, Oak Park, Rockford, and other areas. We handle birth injury cases on a contingency basis, which means you don’t pay unless we win.