Medical Malpractice Can Cause Birth Defects

An infant laying in a hospital incubator connected to several wires and tubes.

Medical Malpractice Can Cause Birth Defects

Childbirth should be a joyous time for your family. You put your trust in your hospital, gynecologist, and medical team to deliver the newest member of your family. Then the worst thing a parent can imagine happened: you learned that your newborn suffered a birth defect, and even worse, that the defect was not genetic or destined to happen. Your trusted doctor caused it when he failed to use reasonable care, and his negligence caused you and your newborn irreparable harm.

When you and your child have been harmed by a doctor’s negligence, you deserve to be compensated. Our expert Georgia legal team is committed to working alongside you every step of the way during your case. Medical malpractice cases concerning birth defects can be complicated to understand. To ensure you know and understand your rights, we have put together some information that you may find helpful during this hardship.

What Is Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional acts unreasonably. This is otherwise known as negligence in the legal community. Your doctor, nurse, or other professional had a duty to you and your child. Your doctor breached that duty by failing to act in a way a reasonable professional in his position would have acted. His failure directly caused your child to suffer from a birth defect and sustain a personal injury, which may affect him for the rest of his life.

Who Can Commit Medical Malpractice?

In broad terms, any medical professional in Georgia can commit medical malpractice on a patient (mother or child). These include:

  • Gynecologists
  • Obstetricians
  • Hospital staff
  • Surgeons
  • Midwifes

Types of Injuries

Medical malpractice-induced birth defects are typically caused by prenatal negligence. Examples include failure to diagnosis an infection, misdiagnosis, and failure to treat the mother’s high blood pressure or diabetes. Each error can affect a child in numerous ways. Below are some common injuries our Cobb County birth defect lawyers have seen during their careers:

  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Brain injury
  • Fetal stroke
  • Facial paralysis
  • Erb’s Palsy (brachial plexus injury)

Types of Damages

If your child was injured due to the negligence of a medical professional, then you can bring a personal injury lawsuit on his behalf, which if successful, will pay for your child’s current and future medical expenses. Below are types of damages you can seek:

  • General Damages: loss of future earning capacity, pain, and suffering, and loss of life enjoyment. These damages require expert reports.
  • Special Damages: medical bills (current and future) and medical equipment necessary to function as a result of the injury.
  • Punitive Damages: damages meant “punish” the negligent medical professional and serve as a deterrent for his peers.

Contact Us

You are not alone if your child has been injured due to a medical professional’s negligence. If you or a loved one has been injured and needs help with your medical malpractice case, call Williams Elleby Howard & Easter at 833-LEGALGA for a free consultation.

When to Sue for Legal Malpractice

A blurry background of a seated judge in front of an american flag in a courtroom with a woman in the foreground in clear focus looking down, pressing her fingers against her forehead, as she walks away from a witness stand.

You put your trust in your lawyer and expect him to diligently represent you. When your case doesn’t go the way you hoped, you may consider suing your attorney for legal malpractice. To help you understand when legal malpractice is an option, we’ve put together some common malpractice actions we’ve seen during our careers.

What Is Legal Malpractice?

Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney fails to exercise reasonable care, duty, or diligence, which results in his client suffering damages. The client must prove through expert testimony that had his original attorney acted properly, he would not have been harmed.

Criminal and civil attorneys can be held liable for legal malpractice. It is important to note that the standard for reasonable care, duty, or diligence is not one of infallible proportions. In other words, the question is: would a reasonably prudent attorney in his position have acted differently?

Types of Malpractice

Legal malpractice lawsuits can stem from many different types of misdeeds by an attorney. Below are the most common, as reported by the American Bar Association.

  • Failure to know or apply well-settled law
  • Planning errors
  • Failure to file documents
  • Failure to calendar
  • Failure to obtain client consent
  • Conflict of interest
  • Fraud
  • Failure to follow instructions
  • Failure to inform client of all possible outcomes or benefits
  • Failure to monitor associates and legal staff
  • Improper withdrawal

One of the most common and easily preventable malpractice errors is an attorney failing to file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations for a particular case. If a lawsuit is not filed within a certain time from the accident, injury, or discovery of the injury, then you will be barred from filing the suit. That means you may never receive the justice or compensation you deserve.

An attorney must always advise you of any settlement offers in a civil case. Even if he thinks you shouldn’t settle, he must still tell you about the offer. The same goes for any plea bargains offered in a criminal case. While an attorney must advise you to the best of his ability, he must listen to your wishes. If you wanted to accept a settlement or a plea bargain, and he does not follow your instructions, then he has committed legal malpractice.

Another common area of legal malpractice is conflict of interest. If an attorney has represented the other side or would have propriety interest in the outcome of the case, then he has a legal and ethical obligation to inform you of these things. The conflict can be waived if you sign a release waiver.

Damages You May Receive

  • Compensatory damages are awarded if your attorney in a civil case was negligent. This means you receive the funds you had to pay to the other party in the original case, or you receive the funds you should have received in the first case.
  • Punitive damages are awarded to “punish” the attorney and deter others from doing what he did in your case.
  • Other expenses: you may be able to collect attorney’s fees owed to the negligent attorney, and expenses you’ve incurred in bringing the malpractice suit against him.

Contact Us In Kennesaw, Georgia

Don’t let one bad attorney ruin the legal system for you. We take our clients’ trust seriously. Let us help you or a loved one seek justice for any legal malpractice you have suffered by calling Joel Williams at 833-LEGALGA to set up your free consultation today.

Obstetric Malpractice

A tiny newborn baby laying in an incubator laying on a pink blanket with several tubes attatched to her.

Obstetric Malpractice

“It’s a boy!” “It’s a girl!” Those words are perhaps the most exciting words expecting moms and dads can hear. Every expecting parent looks forward to a healthy child. They hope that the mom can deliver the baby and return home after a few days in the hospital with their brand-new healthy infant.

However, sometimes complications arise. Every pregnancy carries the potential for unforeseen complications. How an obstetrician and his or her medical staff react to certain signs and complications during childbirth can mean the difference between a healthy baby, a dead baby, or a baby with permanent injuries.

Malpractice Claim Against an OB

Behind neurosurgeons, obstetricians face the most malpractice suits of all doctors according to the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. In fact, malpractice settlements between obstetricians and their patients often exceed $1 million. A similar report from the American Medical Association states that seventy percent of obstetricians have been sued at least once.

Common Types of Obstetric Malpractice

The following are common types of obstetric malpractice:

Misdiagnosis: A doctor’s failure to identify a birth defect or genetic disorder during pregnancy.

Failure to diagnose: This means that the doctor and medical staff failed to diagnose a problem or potential problem before, during or after birth. For instance, a failure to diagnose placental infection can lead to baby oxygen deprivation, which can cause brain damage, cerebral palsy, and vision impairment.

Improperly performing a cesarean section: During a C-section, a doctor makes a surgical incision in the mother’s abdomen and uterus to deliver the child. This process poses a risk to both the baby and mother. If the doctor makes a mistake, it can result in internal bleeding, damage to organs, damage to nerves, heart complications, and more.

Failure to perform a timely cesarean section: A doctor is charged with protecting the life of the mother and unborn child. When the mother or unborn child is in distress, it may be best to remove the child as soon as possible. A doctor’s failure to perform a timely C-section can cause brain damage and cerebral palsy in the child due to a lack of oxygen.

Failure to discover ectopic pregnancy: This occurs when the fertilized egg attaches itself to a place other than the uterus, usually the fallopian tube. In that instance, the doctor must timely remove the egg, or it can cause bleeding that can be deadly.

Improperly using forceps: When forceps are necessary, it is imperative that the doctor correctly places the tongs to the baby’s head and doesn’t use too much force.  If forceps are applied unevenly or used with excessive force, the strain on the baby’s head could cause skull fractures, compression of the head, tearing of the vessels in the brain, swelling in the brain, and brain hemorrhaging.

Failure to recognize umbilical cord complications: The most common type of umbilical cord complication is umbilical cord compression. When compressed, blood flow through the cord can be obstructed. In turn, the baby will be deprived of oxygen. This potentially results in permanent brain injury.

Contact Attorney Joel Williams if a You or Your Child Is the Victim of Obstetric Malpractice

If you or your child is a victim of obstetric malpractice, contact the personal injury law firm of Joel Williams, a Kennesaw, Georgia lawyer who fights for injury victims. If you have questions or would like to discuss your case, please call our office today at 833 – LEGALGA for a free consultation.

What to Do if You Receive Negligent Healthcare

Magnifying class of Malpractice Professional Negligence

What to Do if You Receive Negligent Healthcare

What should you do if you are injured by a healthcare provider? The short answer is that you should contact an attorney as soon as possible to review your potential case. Medical malpractice claims can be extremely complex, both in terms of legal language and the facts in question.  It is crucial that you have experienced legal representation to review and analyze your claim as soon as possible.

However, while you should rely on an attorney to fight for your rights, it is also important to be aware of the rules governing these claims so that you can understand your rights.

Defining Medical Malpractice

The first thing that needs to be determined anytime a person is injured while receiving medical care is whether medical malpractice has occurred. Many people assume that any negligent or intentionally harmful act by a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare provider will automatically be considered medical malpractice, but this isn’t the case. The distinction is important, because when an act is defined as malpractice, special procedural and evidentiary rules will apply.

Medical malpractice does not include any intentional acts. Medical malpractice only includes acts that violate the professional standard of care during the course of treatment. Therefore, any acts that were intentional or that were not actually committed during the course of treatment would not be considered malpractice. For these cases, the rules of medical malpractice would not apply, and instead a traditional personal injury claim would need to be made.

How Liability Is Determined

If an act was malpractice, liability is determined based on whether the provider breached their professional standard of care. When a healthcare provider breaches this professional standard of care and causes a patient harm as a result, they have committed medical malpractice. Under Georgia law:

“A person professing to practice surgery or the administering of medicine for compensation must bring to the exercise of his profession a reasonable degree of care and skill. Any injury resulting from a want of such care and skill shall be a tort for which a recovery may be had.” O.C.G.A. § 51–1–27. While this standard applies to doctors, a similar standard applies to other healthcare providers, such as nurses, therapists, pharmacists, or chiropractors.

The Affidavit Requirement

In Georgia, plaintiffs that file a medical malpractice case must have an affidavit from a medical expert included with their complaint. This differs from many other states, in which very obvious forms of malpractice do not require expert witness evidence. In many cases, extensive medical evidence and in-court testimony from an expert is also necessary to win a case.

Damages

There are three main categories of damages that medical malpractice victims can be awarded in Georgia: Compensatory damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.

  • There is no cap on compensatory damages, which seek to compensate victims for their additional medical costs and any lost wages associated with their harm.
  • There are also no caps on non-economic damages, which compensate victims for their pain and suffering.
  • In cases in which harm was caused by the egregious negligence or recklessness of a healthcare provider, punitive damages could also be awarded. Georgia places a $250,000 cap on punitive damages.

Statute of Limitations

Medical malpractice claims must be brought forward within two years of the date when the patient discovered that the defendant caused the injury, or within five years of the date of the act that caused the harm, whichever comes first.

Contact a Georgia Medical Malpractice Attorney for More Information

At the Williams Elleby Howard & Easter Firm, we are dedicating to getting victims of medical malpractice the compensation they deserve. Joel understands how to use medical evidence and expert testimony to meet the legal burden in these cases. If you have questions or would like to discuss your case, please call our office today at 833-LEGALGA for a free consultation.