Witness Testimony
Firsthand accounts from nurses, medical staff, or family members are helpful in a birth injury case, as they detail what happened during labor and delivery. If their actions didn’t cause your baby’s illness or injury, these professionals might have additional perspectives regarding the behavior and actions of the health care providers, potentially highlighting lapses in care that might not be fully captured in medical records.
Expert Medical Testimony
Expert testimony—such as that from obstetricians, pediatric neurologists, and neonatologists—is critical for establishing breach and causation in malpractice cases. It sheds light on complex medical information, provides the court with an understanding of how the standard of care was violated, and offers professional opinions on whether the health care provider’s actions were acceptable and how their actions or inactions caused the injury.
Diagnostic Imaging and Test Results
Diagnostic tests such as ultrasounds, MRIs, and CT scans provide visual evidence of your child’s injury and help establish a timeline. The results of blood tests and other diagnostic procedures can also provide important information. This type of evidence is essential in showing the extent and nature of the injury to support the claim of damages. It can also help expert witnesses link the injury to specific medical actions or inactions.
Communication Records
Emails, messages, and notes often reveal important details about the health care provider’s decisions and interactions with you as their patient. This kind of documentation reveals what the provider communicated to you and whether proper informed consent was obtained, which can be pivotal to proving a breach of duty and assessing the provider's accountability.
Photographs and Videos
If you have visual proof of your child's condition and development over time, this helps convey the severity of the injury and its impact on them. Your birth injury lawyer at Fowler Pickert Eisenmenger Norfleet can use tangible information like this to estimate economic and non-economic damages and illustrate the need for long-term care.
Medical Literature
Research articles and medical guidelines are other forms of evidence to establish what standard of care should have been followed. Facts obtained from these sources provide an objective benchmark against which the health care provider’s actions can be measured, reinforce expert testimony, and demonstrate ways in which the provider deviated from accepted practices.
Hospital Policies and Procedures
We might also use documentation of the hospital’s protocols to determine whether the health care provider followed established procedures or veered from protocol. If they didn’t follow protocol, this can be a strong indicator of negligence, supporting the claim of a breach of duty.
Expert Financial Testimony
We might also ask financial experts, such as life care planners or economists, for testimony about the immediate and long-term economic impact on your family because of your child’s birth injury. Their testimony helps judges and juries understand the true cost of this tragedy and why the negligent party must be held accountable.
How Our Missouri Birth Injury Lawyers Build Your Case for Justice
Birth injury cases are multifaceted, and each family’s situation is unique. Evidence-gathering should begin right away, ideally as soon as the condition occurs or is discovered. That’s one reason why it’s so important to work with a personal injury law firm with experience handling medical malpractice cases involving birth injuries, such as Fowler Pickert Eisenmenger Norfleet.
When you trust us to represent you in a birth injury lawsuit, we’ll work diligently to gather all relevant evidence and build a comprehensive case that meets Missouri’s complex malpractice requirements. It may be a long journey, but together, we’ll work to achieve justice and seek fair compensation for the damages you and your child suffered.
