Delivering an infant might be the most fragile beginning in your parental journey. The slightest hint of injury can quickly escalate into a life-threatening situation.
Spinal cord damage means severe interference to the connection between the brain and the rest of your newborn’s body. Although rare, it can have devastating consequences. Depending on the severity of the injury, your baby could lose muscular control, function and reflex.
Since there is still no known cure to reverse the damage, your child could be subject to a lifetime treatment or therapeutic care. Thus, it is essential that you establish how exactly medical malpractice caused your child’s injuries, so you can seek compensation to cover long-term medication, rehabilitation and hospitalization expenses.
Ways medical malpractice can cause a spinal birth injury
Despite advancements in the medical field, your physician or any of your health care providers could still breach their duty of care if they:
- Improperly pull or twist your baby during a complicated or rushed delivery
- Inappropriately use birth-assisting tools, like forceps or vacuum extractors, when you’re exhausted from pushing or if they’re repositioning your baby
- Inaccurately interpret test scans or results
- Fail to warn you about or detect infections and medical conditions, like spina bifida or if your baby’s spinal bones do not fully form and close
Virginia has a compensation program for injured children in need of permanent assistance. To qualify, you must have delivered your child at a participating hospital or through an accredited physician. The deciding authority is the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission.
However, its exclusivity means you cannot claim awards from the program if you already receive lawsuit damages. Your legal team may help you determine what could be favorable to your circumstances.
Improving your baby’s quality of life
It is crushing to see your child’s life slowly torn apart before it even had the chance to begin. But hope is in knowing that you can act now to seek liability and determine all possible medical interventions to help reach the optimal functions of your baby’s current condition.
