Birth Injury: Periventricular Leukomalacia
Introduction to Personal Injury Claims
Everyone knows that after a car accident, you can try to file a personal injury claim and recover compensation through a driver’s insurance policy. However, many other types of accidents are often covered through insurance.
Some of the types of injuries a lawyer might be able to help you recover compensation for include situations that involve:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Defective products
- Dangerous drugs
- Medical malpractice
- Work injuries
- Dog bites
- Sexual assault
- Nursing home abuse
- Wrongful death
Anytime you’re left with medical expenses, lost wages, or other serious consequences
Understanding Personal Injury Law
When someone commits a crime, they face criminal charges, go to court, and receive a sentence. The criminal justice system exists to enforce the laws and hold people accountable for breaking them. Unfortunately, criminal courts don’t do much to help the victims of crime.
When someone’s actions cause injury to another, civil law is the court system that allows victims to pursue justice. In most personal injury cases, the first step is attempting to recover compensation through insurance. However, if an insurance company won’t settle or policy limits can’t sufficiently compensate the injured individual, you can file a personal injury lawsuit in civil court.
A personal injury case can lead to both civil and criminal court proceedings. For example, sexual assault and drunk driving are two types of incidents that involve breaking the law. In these cases, the responsible person can be held responsible in both civil and criminal courts.
Initial Steps After an Injury
How you respond immediately after an injury can significantly impact your ability to recover personal injury compensation. Initial steps you should always take in the aftermath of an injury include:
- Reporting the accident
- Documenting the scene of the accident
- Documenting your injuries
- Obtaining witness contact information
- Seeing a doctor
- Following all medical advice
- Calling a personal injury lawyer
Police reports, medical documents, and evidence all help strengthen your claim. Following these steps helps protect you from liability and ensures your lawyer has the evidence they need to build a successful case.
Determining Liability
Liability is a foundational concept in personal injury law. Before obtaining compensation for an injury, you need to determine liability. A successful personal injury case requires proving that the other person’s actions amounted to negligence. This is a legal concept that a lawyer demonstrates by showing:
- The other person or company owed a duty of care
- They violated that duty
- You were harmed as a direct result
- You can provide proof of the harm
Personal injury law is founded on the concept that all individuals owe a duty of care to others. For example, drivers must exercise vigilance and obey traffic laws. How a lawyer proves negligence depends on the type of personal injury case and the circumstances that led to your injuries.
Role of Insurance Companies
Since most personal injury compensation comes through an insurance claim, dealing with insurance companies is an unavoidable part of the claims process. Unfortunately, insurance companies work hard to reduce payouts. Often, these companies use tactics designed to trick unsuspecting individuals into making statements that can be interpreted as admissions of fault.
Anything you say can be used against you by an insurance agent. Unfortunately, once you make a statement to an insurance company, you can’t take it back. Personal injury lawyers know about insurance tactics and protect their clients from them.
When you hire a lawyer to work on your personal injury claim, they’ll handle all the paperwork and communicate on your behalf. This helps ensure you’re protected from insurance tactics and that all documentation is submitted correctly and on time.
Filing the Claim
When you first hire a personal injury lawyer, they’ll begin a full investigation into your case. At this stage, your lawyer has two goals — to prove negligence and establish case value.
To prove negligence, a lawyer will investigate the accident and collect as much evidence as possible to show how the other person’s negligence led to your injuries. They’ll also collect evidence of medical bills, lost wages, and any other costs related to your accident. A lawyer uses this evidence to identify your case value or how much money you should recover from the insurance company.
Finally, a lawyer will submit a claim to the insurance company. If it’s accepted, they’ll begin negotiating your settlement.
Negotiating a Settlement
Negotiating a settlement is the process of identifying how much an insurance company will pay for your claim. You need a skilled personal injury attorney to negotiate on your behalf to recover a fair settlement.
Insurance companies have teams of skilled corporate lawyers working to keep claim payouts small. The negotiation process can take time, but an experienced personal injury lawyer won’t agree to a settlement until the offer is fair, given your injury costs.
Litigation Process
The personal injury legal process often ends at the negotiation stage. However, in some cases, negotiation doesn’t have a successful ending. Sometimes, an insurance company tries to deny responsibility or won’t offer a sufficient settlement. Your final option is to file a lawsuit and take the case to court for a verdict.
If your case goes to court, your personal injury lawyer represents you and keeps you updated on how the case is proceeding. Lawsuits often make a case take longer, but skilled trial attorneys usually recover more compensation than you would have received through negotiation alone.
Compensation in Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury damages are composed of costs and losses in a few different categories. Economic damages compensate for the injury costs that have a dollar value. Examples of these include:
- Medical bills
- Therapy costs
- Surgery costs
- Medical device costs
- Attendant care costs
- Lost wages and benefits
- Funeral and burial costs
If your injuries are permanent, you can also recover compensation for future medical costs and future wages you would have earned if the accident had never occurred.
You can also recover non-economic damages for serious injuries. This provides you with compensation for the mental and emotional impact of the injuries. Examples of these include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish
- Diminished quality of life
- Embarrassment and humiliation
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of companionship
In some personal injury cases, you may also recover punitive damages through a court order. These are awarded in addition to compensatory damages in cases involving extreme negligence or intentional harm.
How the Personal Injury Lawyers at Bachus & Schanker Can Help You
The experienced personal injury lawyers at Bachus & Schanker have a reputation for being leaders in Colorado personal injury law. Our award-winning trial attorneys have recovered over $1 billion in settlements and verdicts for the injured clients we represent.
Our Elite Litigation Group places a special emphasis on catastrophic injury and wrongful death. We understand the devastating impact these types of accidents have on victims and their loved ones. Our team prioritizes compassionate support for victims at every stage of the legal process.
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What is Periventricular Leukomalacia?
Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is a type of brain injury that affects newborns, especially those born extremely prematurely. It causes damage to the white matter in the brain that surrounds the fluid-filled ventricles.
What causes PVL in babies?
The exact causes of PVL are not currently known, but there are several factors thought to contribute to the condition.
- Lack of blood flow or oxygen to the brain: If a baby does not receive adequate blood flow or oxygen to the brain, it can lead to brain damage and PVL.
- Infections during pregnancy: Certain infections that a mother contracts during pregnancy can affect the developing baby’s brain and lead to PVL.
- Early rupture of the amniotic sac: This can happen if there is too much fluid in the womb.
- Premature birth: Very premature, low birth weight babies are at higher risk for PVL because their brains are more susceptible to injury.
Medical malpractice or negligence can play a significant role in this, and it can happen during any stage of pregnancy, labor, and delivery. For example, a doctor may fail to monitor a baby’s oxygen levels during delivery, leading to brain damage and PVL. Additionally, if a hospital or doctor fails to provide appropriate care for a pregnant woman, such as monitoring and treating high blood pressure or infections, it can increase the risk of PVL in her baby.
Which children are at risk for PVL?
Premature babies are most at risk for PVL, particularly those born before 32 weeks and with very low birth weights. It occurs in some babies who experience blood flow problems or oxygen deprivation before birth or during their early days of life.
Common PVL signs and symptoms
The signs and symptoms of PVL can vary depending on the severity of the brain injury. Some common signs and symptoms include:
- Delayed development, including slow motor development
- Stiffness or tightness of the muscles (spasticity)
- Urinary incontinence
- Seizures or abnormal electrical activity in the brain (epilepsy)
- Vision and hearing impairments
How is PVL diagnosed?
Some symptoms of PVL may not be noticeable until the child is at least a few months old. However, if a baby is extremely premature, most doctors will perform the following tests for the condition:
- Cranial ultrasound: This allows doctors to see a baby’s brain using sound waves. They do this by placing a device on the soft spot on top of the baby’s head.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This takes pictures of the brain using magnets and radio waves to create a detailed image without exposing the baby to X-rays.
Periventricular Leukomalacia treatment
Unfortunately, there is no cure or fool-proof treatment for PVL. Because the damage from this condition occurs so early in life, the brain will never develop properly. However, there is care available that can help alleviate some symptoms. This could include things like speech or physical therapy.
What is the long-term outlook for a baby with Periventricular Leukomalacia?
PVL often leads to issues with both physical and mental development, but it varies from patient to patient. Some common conditions children with PVL are at risk for include:
- Coordination issues
- Vision problems
- Seizures
- Hearing problems
- Incontinence
- Cerebral palsy
- Mental delays
- Scoliosis
- Movement issues
- Spasticity
Issues with PVL don’t always show up at birth. In some cases, it takes months or even years to develop. That’s why it’s crucial to contact a birth injury lawyer in the beginning, so they can help you navigate the expenses that are likely to grow over time.
What damages may be recoverable in a PVL birth injury claim?
Recoverable damages for these cases vary from state to state and will depend on the type of claim filed.
One type of lawsuit is birth-related medical malpractice. This could happen when the mother or child is injured during birth or pregnancy due to negligence on the part of the medical staff. In these cases, you may be able to recover costs associated with physical and mental anguish and ongoing medical expenses.
Another type is a wrongful birth lawsuit. This is where the doctor failed to warn you about the possible congenital disabilities that may have allowed you to avoid or end the pregnancy. The recoverable costs in these cases can include medical expenses and ongoing therapy.
Lastly, if the medical method you used for avoiding pregnancy failed (such as sterilization or abortion), you could have a wrongful pregnancy lawsuit. Then, most states will allow you to sue for medical expenses, lost wages, and emotional damage.
Should I file a Periventricular Leukomalacia birth injury claim?
Caring for a child with PVL can be extremely costly, especially with worsening conditions throughout the course of their life. If the damage was done due to negligence of a medical provider or institution, you may need the assistance of an experienced birth injury attorney to recover some of those expenses.
Medical malpractice is not always considered a criminal case (it is mostly considered a civil case). Still, there are times when the case may be regarded as criminal based on the circumstances. The victim advocates at Bachus & Schanker stand as a voice for the victims. We can help you file your PVL case and guide you through the difficult process of gathering evidence to prove the medical negligence that caused PVL in your newborn.