Who Can Be Held Liable In A Birth Injury
Childbirth is a beautiful and one of the awaited moments of a mother’s life. After the waiting and excitement, it can be highly disappointing and depressing to leave the hospital with a birth injury. Birth injuries are caused when one or more healthcare providers fail to provide the standard level of care during the baby’s delivery.
Errors during the birth of a baby can result in injuries that can produce life-long consequences. The baby might even acquire some sort of disability. Johnston Law Firm helps you sue the legally responsible parties for the injury, be it doctors, nurses, or other hospital staff.
Who can be held liable for your baby’s birth injuries
People think only doctors can be held responsible for birth injuries. However, that is not the case. There is various hospital staff involved in taking care of you during your pregnancy and delivery. Different healthcare professionals can be held liable for your or your baby’s injuries based on your specific situation.
Birth injuries occur due to a healthcare provider’s failure to properly diagnose the mother and baby during the pregnancy, failure to monitor their condition on the delivery day, prescribing inappropriate medicine, and so on.
Birth injuries caused by doctors and other professionals
Doctors and healthcare professionals are obligated to provide each patient with the recognized standard of medical care. In case they fail to do so and provide care that falls below the standards, they are liable for your injuries. If their negligence and carelessness have affected your health, then they committed medical malpractice.
Several providers such as obstetricians, nurses, anesthesiologists, midwives, and physician assistants ensure the mother’s and the child’s safety during and after the pregnancy. The providers involved during labor and childbirth are also subject to liability.
The hospital can be responsible as well.
Hospitals are healthcare facilities where there are various licensed physicians and other licensed healthcare providers. These people work under the hospital’s owner. Therefore, the hospital must conduct a proper hiring process and do a background check before taking them in. If the hospital fails to investigate the credentials of their workers and they cause a mishap, the hospital is liable.
Pharmaceutical companies may be liable.
Pharmaceutical companies can also be liable for your injuries. Suppose a company had produced a specific drug unsafe to use and did not adequately warn the physician about its dangers who prescribed it to patients. In that case, they could be held liable in a product liability claim. Pharmaceutical companies must inform physicians about the potential risks and side effects of their drugs.
