By VSCP LAW
When a family has been impacted by a birth injury, they can suffer financially. Babies who are injured during the birthing process require medical care that the parents of the child hadn’t anticipated. Some costs they didn’t plan for are related to physical therapy, occupational therapy, medicine and medical supplies, subsequent surgeries or medical procedures, and special equipment. Many of these costs are only partially covered by insurance or not covered at all. A good birth injury lawyer can help. Here are some ways that birth injury lawyers can help you recover money damages.
In Pennsylvania, you can file a birth injury claim up to two years after the child turns 18 (i.e., up until their 20th birthday). But you should never wait that long to consult an attorney. If your baby suffered a birth injury, you need to contact a Philadelphia birth injury lawyer as soon as possible to preserve your claims.
While your child’s case doesn’t expire until your child turns 20, YOUR case expires two years after you knew or should have known that your child’s birth injury was someone’s fault. Your claim as the parent could be for, e.g., out of pocket expenses, emotional suffering, etc. Parents lose their individual right to sue the healthcare providers after those two years expire.
Another reason you need to contact a birth injury attorney in Philadelphia as soon as you suspect your baby was injured at birth is that your birth injury lawyer needs ample time and opportunity to review medical records, retain experts, gather evidence, and conduct depositions. All of these processes need to be done sooner rather than later as the passage of time tends to erase memories and details. And your birth injury attorney needs all the memories and details available to create a clear and successful lawsuit on your behalf.
As mentioned, your birth injury attorney, given time and having had the opportunity to collect critical evidence, can now fight to win you just compensation, that is, payment for your child’s suffering and your suffering.
In Pennsylvania, there are two main categories of compensation: economic and non-economic. Economic damages are quantifiable, the exact figure can be established with documentation. Examples of economic damages include: past and future medical expenses (often incredibly expensive), loss of future earnings, and lost wages (for parents who had to stop working to care for their injured child).
Non-economic damages are not quantifiable – they are more of a subjective assessment of the sad consequences of a birth injury. Examples of non-economic damages include: loss of companionship, loss of life’s pleasures, pain and suffering, humiliation and embarrassment, and disfigurement.
It goes without saying that no amount of money will take away the pain a child and their family feel after a birth injury. But, with the right birth injury attorney in Philadelphia, you can at least rest assured that you will get the most compensation possible for your case.
If you believe your child has suffered a birth injury, contact VSCP LAW at vscplaw.com.
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