Illinois Placenta Birth Injury Attorney
Arguably, optimal placental health is the most important component of a successful labor and delivery experience. During fetal development, the mother’s placenta is the only source of oxygen and nutrients for the fetus. Even a slight interruption in this flow could have tragic and lifelong consequences for a baby. Placental abruption, or separation from the uterine wall, is an even more serious condition which demands immediate attention. Later, during delivery, the placenta must remain in the correct position. The correct position varies depending on the baby’s position. Only careful medical monitoring can prevent serious fetal injury.
Unfortunately for families, failure to properly monitor placental health is one of the leading causes of serious birth injuries. This failure is almost always human error. Sometimes, that error occurs during a sonogram or other prenatal test. Many doctors either fail to properly interpret test results or fail to properly follow-up on any problems they expose. Other times, the error occurs in the delivery room. A few moments of negligence, such as turning one’s head the other way, could cause a permanent injury.
The experienced Illinois placenta birth injury attorneys at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman routinely handle these matters on a nationwide basis. Because of this vast experience, we have developed proven methods which obtain life-changing results for the families we represent. Every child deserves an equal chance to succeed in life. Disabled children have a natural physical disadvantage. But they have advantages in other areas. We help ensure that one of these areas is the financial resources these families need to live life to the fullest.
What is Medical Negligence?
The human errors described above usually involve negligence, which is essentially a lack of care. In Illinois, there are basically four components of a legal claim for damages stemming from medical negligence:
- Duty: Homeowners, drivers, and other everyday people usually have a duty of reasonable care. But doctors are not everyday people, at least in this context. Since they have so much training, education, and experience, they usually have a fiduciary (special) duty to care for their patients’ health and safety.
- Breach: In all these contexts, accidents happen which cause injuries. Lightning might strike a home or a tire might fall off a vehicle. People have no control over these things, at least in most cases. But doctors have complete control of the medical environment, at least in most cases.
- Cause: An Chicago placental birth injury attorney must establish a legal connection between the breach and the damages. Basically, legal causation is foreseeability. If the power unexpectedly goes out during a C-section, that’s not a foreseeable situation. There must be a factual connection as well. Attorneys usually cause this connection “but for” causation.
- Damages: The worst medical error imaginable does not support a successful claim unless the victim sustained damage as a result of the error. Usually, the damage must be a physical injury. Negligent infliction of emotional distress, a related claim might be available in some cases.
Negligence claims compensate injured victims for their losses. These claims do not blame anyone for the accidents that caused the injuries.
Resolving Your Claim for Damages
Most birth injury claims settle out of court. Most of them settle during mediation. Basically, mediation is a court-supervised settlement negotiation session.
During this session, both sides have a duty to negotiate in good faith. They must really be willing to resolve their differences. They cannot simply go through the motions. Additionally, neither party can make low ball settlement offers or issue ultimatums. Instead, they must be willing to compromise.
Largely because of these additional legal duties, and because a court-appointed mediator supervises the negotiations, mediation is usually successful.
Count on a Dedicated Chicago Cook County Attorney
Injury victims are usually entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced placenta birth injury attorney in Chicago, contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman by going online or calling 410-567-0800. We have recovered tens of millions of dollars for families just like yours.
