Minneapolis Skull Fractures or Bone Fracture Lawyers
Many people do not fully comprehend the smallness and fragility of a newborn baby. Typically, a newborn is not much heavier than a two-liter bottle of soda. A tiny amount of excessive force could cause a serious injury. Furthermore, newborn babies have very fragile bones. That’s especially true if the baby is underdeveloped. So, broken bones and other such injuries normally aren’t just serious. Usually, they are permanent as well.
Excessive force during delivery could easily cause a bone or skull fracture. Doctors often become desperate during unanticipated delivery emergencies. So, they often use desperate measures, such as forceps or vacuum extractors, to deliver these babies and erase their past mistakes. Newborns are so fragile that even the doctor’s bare hands could be a dangerous weapon. Simply pushing a baby’s head to the side or pulling on a baby’s arm or leg could literally snap a bone in two.
The compassionate Minneapolis bone fracture lawyers at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman understand the intense emotional distress these families must endure. Very few things transform absolute joy into absolute sadness faster, or more completely, than a serious birth injury. So, we not only obtain maximum compensation for your baby’s serious injury. We also provide solid legal advice every step of the way, so you never feel alone during the legal proceedings.
Evidence in Fracture Cases
Determining what happened is usually the first step toward maximum compensation in a birth injury case. As is often the case in life, this first step is often the most difficult one.
Following a labor or delivery emergency, many doctors do not feel like they did anything wrong. They believe that the ends (a live baby) justify the means (a rough delivery which involves a birth injury). So, their recollection is often one-sided. Interviews with nurses and other members of the medical team are often dead ends. The code of silence is very strong in these environments.
So, Minneapolis skull fracture and bone fracture lawyers must dig deeper. They must depose witnesses and examine medical records. Once a victim’s lawyer issues a deposition notice, the insurance company’s lawyers create as many obstacles as possible. Additionally, many hospitals block access to medical records, citing privacy laws or other such things. Fortunately, our experienced professionals are used to overcoming these and other roadblocks.
Next, attorneys usually compare the care the mother and baby received with the applicable standard of care. Generally, this phase of the evidence-collection process involves an outside medical expert. If the medical team’s care fell below the standard of care, compensation could be available.
Liability Theories
Violating a standard of care is evidence of negligence. None of us are perfect, so the law does not demand perfection. For example, if Dr. Jones parked in the wrong parking spot at the hospital, that error probably did not contribute to a subsequent birth injury. But if the mistake affected the level of care, that mistake is usually negligence.
State laws could come into play as well. For example, doctors must be licensed by the state and have privileges at the delivery hospital. If the doctor’s medical license was suspended for any reason, including an unrelated matter, or the doctor didn’t have privileges at the hospital, the negligence per se shortcut could come into play. Basically, negligence per se is a violation of a safety law. Tortfeasors (negligent parties) who violate these laws and cause injuries could be liable for damages as a matter of law.
Incidentally, these liability claims do not “blame” doctors for both injuries. They simply force doctors to accept responsibility for the mistakes they make.
Reach Out to a Dedicated Hennepin County Lawyer
Injury victims are usually entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced skull fracture or bone fracture lawyer in Minneapolis, contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman LLC by going online or calling 612-473-0905. We handle these matters on a nationwide basis.