What to Expect During a Pediatric Injury Lawsuit

When you bring your child to a hospital or other medical facility for care, you never expect harm to come to your child. Unfortunately, this is a reality that many parents face. If your child suffered a pediatric injury, legal action can allow you to hold the at-fault parties accountable for your child’s harm. Proving negligence, meeting presuit requirements, and adhering to deadlines are just some of the tasks essential to an injury claim.

While many pediatric injury cases are resolved during negotiations, some lawsuits go to trial. Big companies are reluctant to admit fault or offer fair settlements, and filing a lawsuit may be the only way your family sees justice. A Florida medical malpractice lawyer can review your legal options, represent your case, and tell you what to expect during a pediatric injury lawsuit.

We Must Prove Negligence of the Provider or Facility

Establishing another party’s negligence is essential to a pediatric injury lawsuit. Without proof, your case will go nowhere. In malpractice claims, there are four main elements of negligence. This means we:

Establish a Standard of Care

First, our team will examine the professional relationship of the provider to your child. Did the provider have a duty of care to your child? This is typically an easy element to prove, as treating your child demonstrates their duty.

Then, our personal injury lawyers need to establish what the standard of care was for the provider. Our team must show what actions and treatments another careful provider would have done in similar circumstances.

For example, perhaps you believe that a pediatrician’s failure to order an MRI caused your child’s harm because the image would have shown proof of the injury or condition. We might speak to another pediatrician with similar training about the details of your child’s case and ask them about what reasonably careful physicians would have done under the circumstances.

Demonstrate a Breach of This Standard

After establishing the standard of care, our pediatric injury attorneys must prove that the provider’s actions did not live up to this standard. We rely on medical professionals who weigh in on your child’s case and their provider’s choices and actions.

This is a complex part of any medical malpractice claim, but it is especially difficult with cases involving children. Children may not be able to fully verbalize their discomfort or symptoms, or they may present atypically.

A provider’s mistake is not necessarily malpractice, so it’s up to our attorneys to prove that their actions (or lack of action) were negligent.

Show Causation Between Actions and Harm

Showing that a provider breached the standard of care is important, but we must show that there’s a direct link between this breach and your child’s injuries and losses.

That is a subtle but important difference—providers may try to say that your child’s injuries were unavoidable. They may even try to say that other factors out of their control hurt your child. For example, they may try to say you did not seek care in a timely manner, so they are not totally to blame for this outcome.

Provide Proof of a Child’s Harm

The fourth element of negligence involves demonstrating your child’s injuries and losses. Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other parties may claim that your child did not actually suffer harm.

When investigating your claim, we make sure to assess all losses, both economic and noneconomic. For example, we can use invoices and medical bills to show that your child had to undergo multiple surgeries to address an overlooked injury. We can talk to you and other witnesses who can discuss the effect of this traumatic and painful event on your child.

Whatever your child and your family have gone through, we will provide proof of all losses. Our malpractice team knows what to expect during a pediatric injury lawsuit, so we know how to navigate these difficult circumstances and deliver results.

Our Team Will Meet Presuit Requirements and Deadlines

If you work with our firm, you can expect us to get started on your pediatric injury lawsuit right away. These cases have specific filing requirements and we have medical malpractice deadlines to manage on your behalf. Getting you a satisfactory outcome is our primary focus, so we want to minimize possible delays.

One crucial element of a pediatric injury lawsuit that not all personal injury lawyers know about is that we must follow presuit requirements established by state law. Before we file your lawsuit, we must send a certified letter known as a Notice of Intent to all parties who may be liable for your child’s harm. This begins a 90-day period that allows all parties to begin an investigation before filing a suit.

This investigation is essential to your lawsuit because it allows us to find evidence and witnesses that can help us establish the validity of your child’s case. While a settlement offer is possible at this stage, we are prepared to file a lawsuit on your child’s behalf. No matter the path your case takes, you can expect our team to manage all parts of your pediatric injury lawsuit.

Act Quickly to Protect Your Right to Sue for a Pediatric Injury

After your child develops a pediatric injury, your focus is on their health and needs. You may not even realize negligence played a part in their harm right away. However, time is of the essence, so the sooner you can act, the better.

Florida Statutes § 95.11 limits how long you have to sue for damages. However, with lawsuits involving children, the victim’s age at the time of the injury might extend this statute of limitations. Even the date you discovered the injury could affect this deadline.

The longer you wait, the more likely it is that you miss this window of time. You can expect our pediatric injury lawyers to review your case and determine how long you have to act to protect your child’s rights.

We Can Manage All Aspects of Your Pediatric Injury Claim

With over 45 years of medical malpractice experience, our firm knows what to expect during a pediatric injury lawsuit. We’re not afraid of hospitals, providers, and their insurance companies. Your child’s health is of the utmost importance, and we want to help hold these parties accountable for their injuries, suffering, and losses.

Call Freidin Brown, P.A. today to speak with a member of our team. We serve the entire state of Florida, and we’re available to meet over the phone, on Zoom, or in person at our Miami and Fort Myers offices.