Does My Child Have a Medical Malpractice Case?

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If your child was injured or experienced a medical condition due to a doctor’s or medical provider’s error, you may wonder whether your family has a claim for medical malpractice. Although parents will want to obtain compensation and justice for the harm that their child has suffered, medical malpractice cases can be incredibly complex. If you believe that your child may have a medical malpractice claim, it is important to speak to an experienced attorney to discuss your child’s and your family’s legal rights and options. 

Negligence

The first part in determining whether your child and your family may have a medical malpractice case is evaluating whether your child’s medical provider committed some act or omission of negligence. In the context of medical malpractice, negligence refers to a failure to render treatment in accordance with the accepted standard of care. Even though the standard of care is different for each patient’s case, the standard is generally defined as the treatment actions and decisions that other medical providers of similar training and experience would undertake in the same or similar circumstances.

As a result, not every adverse outcome to medical treatment is the result of negligence. If other doctors and medical providers would have rendered the same treatment to your child that your child’s providers provided, the law will not hold your child’s providers liable even if your child suffered an injury or other medical harm.

Some of the most common examples of negligence in pediatrics include:

• Failure to notice or react to complications during labor and delivery
• Errors during post-delivery care
• Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis of a medical condition
• Failure to monitor a child’s condition
• Medication errors
• Surgical errors, including wrong patient/wrong site surgery, injuring a patient during a procedure, or leaving materials or equipment inside a child

Negligence can be committed by parties other than a mother’s OB/GYN or a child’s pediatrician. Other parties who may have liability in a pediatric malpractice case include:

• Nurses
• Radiologists
• Surgeons
• Anesthesiologists
• Lab technicians

Injury & Damages

Your child may have a medical malpractice claim if they suffered injuries and losses that they and your family can be financially compensated for. These injuries can be physical in nature or they can even be psychological in nature. Losses may include medical expenses, pain and suffering, or reduced quality of life or life expectancy.

Proving a Pediatric Malpractice Claim

To win in a medical malpractice claim, your family will need to show:

• Your child’s healthcare provider owed your child a duty of care under the applicable standard of care
• The provider’s conduct failed to comply with the standard of care
• The provider’s failure to render treatment in accordance with the standard of care injured your child in some way
• Your child and your family have suffered losses due to their injuries

In most cases, you and your family may need to obtain expert testimony, usually from another medical provider, to establish what the standard of care was in your child’s case and how their provider’s treatment failed to comply with this standard.

Contact A Medical Malpractice Attorney for a Consultation About Your Case in New Jersey

Were you or a loved one injured due to medical malpractice in New Jersey? Then you need to talk to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible for guidance on how to proceed. The Rochelle Park medical malpractice attorneys at The Epstein Law Firm are prepared to assist you with your legal claim. We represent victims of negligent surgeons, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists throughout New Jersey, including Mahwah, Paramus, Ridgewood, and Newark. Call us today at (201) 380-7687 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a consultation. Our main office is located at 340 West Passaic St., Rochelle Park, NJ 07762.

The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.