Who is liable for an injury at birth?
An injury at birth or medical malpractice suits are not limited to the medical physician, but can also include the hospital, the nurses, anesthesiologist, pharmaceutical companies, and other health care facilities.
The liability of an injury at birth has to do with the type of injury sustain, the extent of the injury and if the injury was due to product defects or negligence.
Hospitals can be held liable for injuries at birth if their employees were negligent in their actions, which caused the injuries or damages. In some cases, the hospital can be held vicariously liable for negligence for employee’s actions. Vicarious means that one party is being held responsible for the negligence of another.
Hospital negligence can include such staff members as health care providers, physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses, and nurse practitioners. However, a hospital can be held liable if their own negligence if the hospital did not check credentials as well as they should have and hired individuals that were incompetent.
Hospitals can also be liable if they do not have enough staff scheduled to care for their patients properly, which caused injuries to a patient. Hospitals also have to protect their patients from harm including keeping accurate medical records, performing clinical tests and so on and so forth. If an injury occurs due to these types of negligence the hospital would be liable.
Liability for an injury at birth can be one entity to several in the employment of the hospital all the way to the product manufacturer if the product was defective.
To learn more about your rights and liability if an injury occurred during birth you should contact a personal injury attorney to learn what options you have and the type of compensation you may be entitled to receive.