Maine law requires different types of evidence for a birth injury case to be successful

Portland, ME – If a child sustains an injury within the first several hours that they are born, this can affect them for the rest of their life and cause a number of different serious, long-term problems. It is because of this possibility that getting legal help after a birth injury is so important. 

Explaining birth injuries

Birth injuries are essentially a type of medical malpractice case. These types of cases attempt to show that a doctor or healthcare system was responsible for injuries through a deviation from the relevant standard of care, based on evaluations of the specific procedure being performed and other relevant factors. Because this kind of information is not normally common knowledge, medical malpractice cases usually require testimony or statements from other doctors or experts familiar with the specifics of the defendant’s area of practice. Their knowledge can be used to both verify that a case is legitimate when it is initially filed, or to explain certain issues to the jury at a later time. 

Factors that are required for the case to proceed

Maine law requires certain things to be shown for a medical malpractice lawsuit to be successful. Once all of these elements are proven, the jury can consider awarding damages to the victim that are comparable to their expenses for all of the losses caused by the injury. 

All negligence and malpractice cases start by alleging a relevant duty of care and a deviation from that same standard of care. In a medical malpractice lawsuit, there should be a comparison showing the appropriate level of care versus what was applied to the plaintiff. It is generally easier to demonstrate this failure in terms of proper care by comparison.  

There also needs to be a relationship between the victim and the doctor or other worker who was performing a procedure and responsible for an injury. In most cases this can simply be done by showing that the person was providing care or assigned to do so immediately before the injury took place. 

Evidence of improper care and treatment needs to be given to help prove that a deviation from the required standard of care actually happened. This is usually shown by things like missing steps in treatment protocols, or showing that a doctor gave a type of treatment that was not appropriate or relevant to the situation, which is clearly a mistake. 

Finally, there needs to be evidence that tends to show these issues with improper care actually caused the plaintiff’s injuries and losses. 

Getting more legal advice

USAttorneys.com is a site that provides assistance to people who are dealing with the consequences of birth injuries and other legal problems. Anyone can use the directory to contact a local attorney in Portland or other cities around the country.