Who Can Be Liable In A Birth Injury Lawsuit?

When a preventable birth injury happens to your child, it’s devastating. Your child and your family have the right to compensation and a sense of justice. But first, it’s crucial to identify the liable party. Who can you sue for your child’s birth injury?

Under Arizona 12-542, the law allows an injury victim, or the parent of a minor injury victim, to sue the liable party for medical malpractice due to a preventable birth injury. But first, it’s necessary to pinpoint the responsible party.

Understanding Liability In Birth Injury Claims

If your baby suffered a preventable birth injury, your child and your family may be facing substantial expenses for temporary or permanent medical expenses, special education, and other financial impacts. Recovering compensation through a birth injury lawsuit relieves the related financial losses. Common liable parties in Phoenix, Arizona, birth injury claims include the following:

• The obstetrician (OB-GYN), for instance, for failing to order an emergency C-section, or improperly using forceps or a vacuum extractor
• The nursing staff for negligent fetal monitoring or failure to inform the doctor of a change in medical status
• A midwife who failed to obtain critical care in a timely manner during a medical emergency
• An anesthesiologist for improper dosage or failure to administer anesthesia appropriately
• The hospital or birthing center, if the attending physician or negligent staff member is an employee and not an independent contractor, or for negligent hiring, inadequate staff training, or insufficient safety protocols

It may require an investigation into all aspects of the labor and delivery to determine who is at fault for the child’s injury and liable for the damages.

Proving Liability for a Birth Injury In Phoenix, AZ

Birth injuries are a category of medical malpractice. While most personal injury claims center on the general duty of care we all owe to each other, in medical malpractice, a doctor or other medical provider has an enhanced duty of care. Proving liability in a birth injury claim requires evidence demonstrating the following:

• That a doctor-patient relationship was established at the time the birth injury occurred (during labor and delivery, both mother and child are patients)
• The medical provider owed a duty of care to the patient, requiring them to treat the patient at the medical community’s accepted standard of care
• They breached their duty through negligence
• The breach of duty caused injury to the child
• The child and parents suffered damages from the birth injury

Damages recovered in a birth injury lawsuit against the liable party typically include past and future medical expenses; parents’ past and future loss of income; and expenses for a special-needs child, such as special education and therapy costs, assistive equipment, and travel to see specialists. Parents may also receive compensation for the emotional anguish of having their child suffer a birth injury, particularly one with lifelong disability. 

Filing a Phoenix Birth Injury Claim

As parents, you plan for your child’s welcome into the world with joy and expectation. When something goes wrong, and the medical professionals you trusted with one of the most important experiences of your life fail to react appropriately or otherwise fail to uphold their legal duty of care, the results can be disastrous. Identifying the liable party is the first step in recovering compensation and a sense of justice through a birth injury claim.