Developmental Delay Lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri
Commonly, a child should attain key developmental milestones such as crawling, talking, and walking as they age. If a birth injury occurs, it can cause a newborn more than a momentary injury. Numerous sorts of birth traumas can have long-term consequences, such as severe developmental delays.
If you feel that a medical professional’s error or negligence caused your child’s developmental delay, you must understand your legal alternatives. In such cases, our competent Kansas City developmental delay lawyer from Ricket Law Firm can meet with you to discuss your case in depth.
Why Do You Need a Developmental Delay Lawyer in Missouri?
Many states limit the time you or your child have to file a claim for a birth injury. If you suspect your child was injured during labor or delivery, you must explore your claim with our experienced developmental delay lawyer in Kansas City immediately.
In certain instances, developmental delays need lifelong care, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, and nursing care. Often, developmental delays may be traced back to the labor and delivery process, during which events that might cause brain injury may have occurred, such as the inappropriate use of forceps, a delayed C-section, or any circumstance that prevented oxygen from reaching the baby’s brain.
In the examples mentioned, you need a seasoned attorney to help you win your case. The hospital has attorneys to defend them from liability; you should also have one who knows how to hold them accountable.
The Kansas City developmental delay lawyer at Ricket Law Firm is familiar with the complexities of these situations and can offer the legal assistance and advocacy you may need to initiate legal action against a negligent health care provider.
What Constitutes Developmental Delay?
When a child fails to attain particular milestones in motor abilities, language skills, or speaking, we use the phrase “developmental delay.” There is a wide range of what physicians consider normal, and when one child excels, another may struggle.
Pediatricians take a comprehensive look at a child’s development and compare it to a typical baseline to see how they’re growing in their capacity to perform more challenging activities. These evaluations assist in determining if “developmental delay” or “developmental disability” is the correct diagnosis.
A 1-year-old toddler may be able to walk, but he may not comprehend or be able to comply with his parents’ instructions. Or, he may understand every word Mommy or Daddy speaks but is afraid to initiate conversation. It is usual for a child to master one developmental area quickly while being slower to attain milestones in another.
When identified and correctly diagnosed, most developmental delays are treatable with therapy or intervention. Unfortunately, some developmental delays are irreversible, suggesting something more severe in play.
What Are the Common Developmental Delays That Can Be a Result of Birth Injury?
Problems with Sitting Up
The capacity to sit up without being supported or propped against an object is one of the first developmental milestones a baby will accomplish. Many children who have trouble sitting up may also develop walking and other difficulties.
Challenges with Walking
Every parent eagerly anticipates the day their child begins to walk independently. However, if you observe that your kid has difficulty walking as they approach their first birthday and beyond, this may indicate a developmental delay. For instance, if your child seems stiff or drags their feet when walking, they may have had a birth injury.
Several birth injuries might render a child unable to walk. In rare instances, walking difficulties may indicate a spinal cord injury caused by nerve damage or Spina Bifida. If you suspect that your child’s birth injury resulted in difficulties learning to walk, you should consult with our professional developmental delay lawyer in Kansas City to evaluate your options.
Difficulties with Speaking
Severe problems with speaking are frequently indicative of birth-related brain injury. For instance, permanent damage may result if an infant’s brain is filled with blood. If your kid has significant speech challenges, such as avoiding difficult words or not speaking, you should be concerned that they may have had a birth injury.
Several different birth traumas might hinder a child’s progress toward developmental milestones. To discover more about proving a medical malpractice claim for developmental delays in infants, please contact our devoted Kansas City lawyer for developmental delays in infants due to birth injuries.
How to Hold a Health Care Provider Liable for a Birth Injury That Leads to Developmental Delay of Your Child?
A child has developmental delays when they do not meet developmental milestones at the predicted period. Crawling, walking, and speaking are a few examples of developmental milestones. These delays can appear as long-term impairments if they continue throughout time.
Targets of a medical malpractice lawsuit may include the doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who were present during the delivery, the medical providers you consulted during your pregnancy and after the birth of your child, the hospital where your child was born, the manufacturers of defective medical equipment, and the pharmaceutical companies.
If your child was the victim of medical negligence and has developmental problems, you should speak with our seasoned developmental delay lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri, who can assist you in defending your case. A plaintiff in a medical malpractice case must demonstrate that a medical practitioner behaved negligently.
Specifically, a plaintiff must establish the following elements to win in the end:
- The doctor had a duty of care for the patient.
- The physician broke the patient’s duty of care.
- The patient suffered damages as a result of the breach.
It’s typically not too difficult to prove the first element, as healthcare practitioners have a legal duty to care for their patient’s health. The following two are usually the crux of a medical malpractice case.
You have to show that the doctor breached their duty. In other words, they likely would not have been injured if the defendant had used reasonable caution. Expert testimony is usually crucial to the success of a birth injury lawsuit. These experts may include obstetrics, gynecology, neonatology, radiography, pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine, economics, and life care planning.
What Types of Compensation Can a Child with Developmental Delays Receive?
You also have to show that you suffered damages due to the breach. These often include compensation for medical expenditures, rehabilitation fees, home health care, medicines, lost income in the future, pain and suffering, and more. The right amount of compensation in a given situation will depend on the kind and degree of the developmental delay. For instance, a long-term injury would likely necessitate more intensive and costly treatment, which would be reflected in the award of damages.
It is costly to provide counseling and treatment for a kid with developmental delays. Damages from a lawsuit can provide the funds necessary to offer your child the assistance they need to live the best life possible.
In addition to paying past and present expenditures for therapy and medical treatment, compensation may also include the anticipated costs of such care for as long as it is estimated to be required – throughout the child’s whole life, if necessary. In addition to payment for surgeries, medication, rehabilitation services, attendants, necessary assistive and medical equipment, pain and suffering, and lost income, a lawsuit may award payment for surgeries, medication, rehabilitation services, attendants, and necessary assistive and medical equipment.
Your child deserves justice for the suffering the medical practitioners have caused. Our Kansas City developmental delay lawyer can help you recover compensation to achieve the justice your kid needs. Contact us now to learn more.
Call Our Skilled Kansas City Developmental Delay Lawyer Now!
When parents find their child has developmental delays, they are frequently filled with strong emotions. Those who believe their child is experiencing this difficulty due to a delivery mistake should not attempt to manage the potential legal consequences on their own. Instead, they should seek the assistance of our skilled Kansas City developmental delay lawyer, who has spent years fighting for the rights of families. Contact the Ricket Law Firm to learn how we may assist you in this challenging situation.
A child’s whole life might be severely affected by developmental delays. You may be eligible for compensation if you feel your child experienced a developmental delay owing to a birth injury caused by the negligence of a medical practitioner. At Ricket Law Firm, our competent developmental delay lawyer in Missouri will evaluate the facts of your case and offer you a realistic appraisal of your claim, regardless of whether it involves maternal hypertension, a labor induction mistake, or another type of harm.
In the aftermath of a birth injury, we can assist you in understanding the legal options accessible to you. Please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or online.
