Pregnancy is a stressful but exciting time for families, and in most cases, the outcome is a happy, healthy baby. But in other cases, the result can be birth injuries, congenital disabilities, or worse, death.
The ongoing nursing shortage has impacted staff-to-patient ratios in hospitals, even prompting Michigan to consider mandating nurse staffing ratios, an effort that has since been opposed by the Senate.
Insufficient staffing ratios increase the risk of birth injuries and congenital disabilities (sometimes referred to as birth defects).
Birth injuries refer to conditions that happen during labor and delivery, while birth defects occur before birth.
If your child is living with a condition caused by medical negligence, the birth injury lawyers at Giroux Pappas are ready to fight for you. Since our founding over a decade ago, we’ve represented countless families in medical malpractice cases throughout Farmington Hills. When you don’t know where to turn, Giroux Pappas is here to support you.
The Growing Problem of Birth Defects
Health care providers offering prenatal care are required to perform screenings. These screenings help detect genetic and environmental defects early on, which helps parents understand the risks associated with the pregnancy. Prenatal screenings include quad screen tests that identify genetic issues, ultrasounds that detect signs of Down Syndrome, placenta CVS, which identifies chromosomal issues, and more. While not every birth defect can be detected during pregnancy, it is a health care provider’s duty to perform these screenings and report detected conditions.
Despite screenings being a standard of care, birth defects still occur, and the problem is growing. Based on the state of Michigan’s latest statistics, the number of birth defect cases in Oakland County (including Farmington Hills) increased by nearly 62%, and 3% of all cases were diagnosed between one and two years after birth.
Birth defects could include congenital heart disease, cleft lip, limb defects, tetralogy, gastroschisis, Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, hemophilia, and congenital hearing loss or blindness.
Bringing a child into this world is an incredible, rewarding experience, but you deserve to know the risks associated with your pregnancy.
Medical Negligence in Farmington Hills
The Michigan Department of Health maintains a database of disciplinary action against health care providers, which can include medical negligence, sexual misconduct, failure to meet continuing education requirements, and more. According to their latest report published in 2017, several health care providers in Farmington Hills received disciplinary action for medical negligence, including one nurse (RN) and two doctors (M.D.), and that was just in one year.
Medical negligence happens everywhere, and Farmington Hills is not an exception.
Farmington Hills Hospitals
The Leapfrog Group provides safety ratings on hospitals and facilities. Hospitals and facilities don’t have to share their data with Leapfrog, and 16 facilities near Farmington Hills haven’t responded to Leapfrog’s request to receive patient safety and quality data. What does that say about those facilities?
The only facility in Farmington Hills that provided patient safety and data was Corewell Health Farmington Hills Hospital. According to Leapfrog’s standards, this hospital achieved maternity care standards, but declined to provide data related to pediatric care, including radiation dose for pediatric abdomen/pelvis and head scans, congenital heart surgery for infants, and experience of children and their parents.
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FAQs
What Are the Common Types of Birth Injuries?
Birth injuries can occur during pregnancy and labor, such as exposing the mother to certain drugs. When medical negligence occurs during these critical times, it can lead to resulting injuries in the child, such as:
- Brachial plexus
- Erb’s palsy
- Klumpke’s palsy
- Facial paralysis
- Cephalohematoma (ruptured blood vessels caused by blood accumulating under the scalp)
Health care providers are also required to understand the common risk factors of congenital disabilities, including position issues in the birth canal and placenta damage, and take action when necessary.
How Common Are Birth Deaths in Farmington Hills?
The infant mortality rate in Oakland County, including Farmington Hills, is 5.1 per 1,000. This rate means that for every 1,000 babies born in Oakland County, around five will die.
Can I File a Lawsuit?
In Michigan, you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit for birth defects AND injuries, but only if you can prove the resulting defect or injury was caused by medical negligence. We recommend working with an experienced birth injury attorney who can help guide you through this challenging process.
How Is Negligence Proven?
A birth injury attorney can help you prove negligence by:
- Working with expert witnesses to establish a relevant standard of care.
- Providing evidence that the health care provider or facility failed to meet that standard of care.
- Providing evidence that the child’s injuries or defects were a direct result of a breach in that standard of care.
How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit?
Under Michigan law, you have two years after the date of the incident with one exception. If a child hasn’t reached their eighth birthday as of the date of the malpractice, then the claim must be brought forth within two years after the date of the incident, or before or on the child’s tenth birthday, whichever comes first.
We don’t recommend waiting long to file a claim. If your child was diagnosed with a condition and you suspect that it was caused by medical negligence, talk to our birth injury attorneys as soon as possible.
How Much Will It Cost to Hire You?
Giroux Pappas operates under a contingency fee model, meaning that you pay nothing upfront and we won’t take fees unless we win. Attorney fees, as well as the costs associated with court filing, expert witness testimony, medical record requests, and deposition and investigation, are covered by the firm. If your case is successful, we take an agreed-upon percentage from that settlement to cover legal costs. If there is no settlement, THERE IS NO CHARGE TO YOU.
What Could I Receive?
If your case is successful, you could recover economic and/or non-economic damages. Economic refers to any expenses with a defined monetary value, such as hospital bills, while non-economic refers to pain and suffering. If medical negligence can be proven, the plaintiff could receive a non-economic damage award of up to $280,000. If medical negligence resulted in a death or permanent loss or damage of a vital organ or bodily function, the non-economic damage award is increased to $500,000. There are no caps for economic damages.