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Liability Issues in Birth Injury Cases
When an infant is injured during the birthing process, an endless stream of questions can plague parents, not the least of which is who is to blame?
June 12, 2010 /Children and Youth PR News/ -- Popular culture tends to depict the birth of babies as an exclusively joyous, if tiring, experience. It is rare that media other than medical shows have the courage to represent the kinds of experiences millions of Americans have been forced to endure when their babies suffer injury during the birthing process.
When an infant is injured during the birthing process, an endless stream of questions can plague parents, not the least of which include: how did this happen, who is to blame and who is responsible to pay for my child's injuries? In certain cases, a physician, nurse or hospital may be partially or totally to blame for an infant's injuries. Although no one factor or combination of factors can necessarily determine whether a hospital or its employees are liable for an infant's birth-related injuries, certain factors and circumstances can raise questions of health-provider liability.
Liability Generally
Physicians, nurses and hospitals all owe a certain duty of care to their patients. Liability arises when a health care provider deviates from that standard of care and causes injury as a result of that deviation.
Both physicians and nurses are required to treat their patients with the same degree of care as any other well-trained health care professional would under similar circumstances. Thus, for a physician or nurse to be held liable for an infant's birth-related injury, he/she would have had to have caused the infant's injuries as a result of behaving in a way that another physician or nurse of ordinary skill, care and thoroughness would not have, under the circumstances.
Similarly, a hospital owes patients the same care which an ordinarily thorough and attentive hospital would under similar circumstances.
Physician Liability
Physicians may be held liable in a birth-related injury case for several reasons, as physicians have several responsibilities in regard to their patients. The first responsibility they owe their patients is to receive informed consent before providing treatment. Before obtaining the patient's consent for treatment, with certain exceptions in emergency situations, the physician must explain the risks and benefits of the treatment as well as any alternatives to the treatment that might be available. Without such information, the patient will not be able to make an informed decision as to whether to undergo the treatment.
Physicians are also responsible for presenting information to their patients in a truthful manner. Should the physician mislead the patient by misrepresenting the facts surrounding the treatment, the physician may be held liable for injuries resulting as a result of the misrepresentation. The ways in which the facts surrounding treatment can be misrepresented are endless, but a few common areas in which facts are misrepresented include:
- The necessity of the treatment
- The risks and benefits of the treatment and any available alternatives
- The physician's experience in administering the treatment
- The likelihood of the treatment's success and complications
Other mistakes that may leave physicians liable for an infant's injuries include failure to diagnose a condition, failure to order necessary tests, failure to perform a thorough examination and prescribing an incorrect dosage of medication.
Nurse Liability
Nurses owe a high duty of care as they monitor their patients. Nurses may be held liable for injuries resulting from negligence including:
- Failure to monitor their patient's condition
- Failure to communicate changes in the patient's condition to physicians
- Failure to request immediate medical attention when necessary
- Failure to properly administer medication
Hospital Liability
Hospitals can often be held liable for the negligence of its employees. For a hospital to be held liable, the employee must have acted negligently while performing within the scope of his or her employment at the hospital. As such, many healthcare liability cases involve suing a physician or a nurse as well as the hospital.
A hospital may also be held liable for its own negligent acts. Acts that a hospital alone can be held liable for include unreasonable denial of medical services, failure to maintain equipment and negligent hiring and supervision practices.
For Further Reference
Questioning the liability of your health care providers while enduring the devastation of caring for an injured newborn can be a frustrating process. If your infant sustained injuries during the birthing process, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney.
Article provided by Wood & Carlton PC
Visit us at www.woodcarlton.com
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