Atlanta Birth Injury Attorneys

Pursuing Justice for Birth Injury Victims in Atlanta, GA

Anger. Grief. Confusion. Vindictiveness.

After a birth injury, our firm has seen parents struggling through every emotion there is. For over 75 years combined, Goldstein Hayes & Lina, LLC has stood for one thing: helping people rebuild their lives after suffering a tragedy. We’ve worked with countless parents who wanted to have a healthy, average family—but their doctors made that impossible. Birth injuries are always tragedies—they take away an infant’s chance for a normal life, and it puts families in danger of bankruptcy from day one.

But:

You could change the story for your family today. Our birth injury lawyers in Atlanta want to help.

Below, we answer the questions that nearly all parents have asked us:

• What kind of birth injuries are caused by malpractice?
• How long does our family have to file a birth injury claim?
• What are the most common causes of birth injury?
• What’s the prognosis for my child? Is there treatment available?
• How large are settlements—and would one provide for my child’s needs?

What Types of Birth Injuries Are Caused by Medical Malpractice?

The most costly and damaging birth injuries caused by negligence fall into two categories: brain damage injuries and nerve damage injuries. In both cases, they cause long-term mobility issues, require years of physical therapy, and could require corrective surgery in severe cases. Even in relatively mild cases, positive outcomes usually come with years of poor or painful mobility.

The most common of these injuries are:

• Cerebral palsy
• Birth asphyxia
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy
• Erb’s palsy
• Klumpke’s palsy
• Skull fractures/birth head injuries

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Of the common injuries, the most well-known is cerebral palsy. During difficult births, doctors and nurses sometimes fail to ensure your baby is getting oxygen. When they fail to monitor your infant’s safety, it can result in brain damage to the basal ganglia or cerebellum—where mobility is developed.

The symptoms of cerebral palsy sometimes don’t appear for years, but the tell-tale signs include:

• Excessively-defined muscle tone
• Excessive “floppiness,” or lack of muscle
• Immobility on one side of the body
• Difficulty crawling or swallowing
• Stiff, jerky movements or spastic muscles

Cerebral palsy is rarely genetic—in most cases, birth injuries or fetal developmental issues are to blame.

What is the Statute of Limitations for Birth Injury Cases in Georgia?

The statute of limitations in Georgia for birth injury cases is two years from the date of the injury. However, if you don’t discover the injury before two years is up, the statute of limitations is 5 years. This is important for parents of children with cerebral palsy or brain injuries—the extent of the harm done by brain damage isn’t usually known until later in a baby’s development.

However, once the extended time period is up, you’re no longer able to file—no matter what. Georgia law is strict about these deadlines, so if you suspect that your child has a developmental issue caused by a birth injury, get them seen by a doctor as soon as possible. Our firm is more than happy to put you in touch with a trustworthy specialist if you’re not sure who to go to.

Causes of Birth Injuries

The more appropriate question is “who let the injury happen?” Maternity wards around the state lack the staff to pay close attention to the needs of mothers and babies before, during, and after birth. Experts estimate that the number of OB/GYNs will continue to fall—by 2030, there will be 20,000 fewer OB/GYNs than are needed to treat women in the U.S. Too few staff means things fall through the cracks, like preparing for high-risk complications or failing to monitor your baby’s vitals for fetal distress.

Common Signs of Medical Malpractice

Other signs of malpractice include:

• An exhausted or overworked physician
• Equipment that is poorly maintained
• Inattentive nurses or midwives
• Hesitation to perform a C-section when necessary

Each of these mistakes is distinctly human—but that doesn’t excuse the hospital. Hospital administrators are responsible for ensuring that a maternity ward is staffed and trained to take care of you, no matter how high-risk your pregnancy. They’re also responsible for ensuring doctors are not taking on too many shifts without sufficient break times.

Physicians are equally responsible for their actions—in the end, it’s their decisions that determine the outcome for your baby. When doctors are overtired, stressed, or simply negligent, infants pay the price.

Now, it is still possible that your baby’s injuries were purely a result of circumstances outside of anyone’s control—but the hospital is not obligated to admit mistakes to you. Even if they were, anonymous surveys show that 1 in 10 doctors have deliberately hidden mistakes from patients in the past year. Another study revealed that almost 50 percent of birth injuries are preventable.

The likelihood that your child was injured by preventable factors is much higher than you might think.

What Are the Treatment Options & Prognosis for Children with Birth Injuries?

Some birth injuries, like mild cases of bruising and swelling of the head or minor Erb’s palsy, resolve themselves in a few weeks without treatment. On the other end of the spectrum, brain damage, severed nerves, asphyxia, and cerebral palsy all come with lifelong medical consequences. For severe cases, help comes in the form of speech therapy, corrective surgery, and special education resources.

Unfortunately, there’s no cure for brain damage—but there is treatment. With enough therapy, rehabilitation, and specialized education, your child could learn to become as self-sufficient as their circumstances will allow.

Having a lifelong disability doesn’t mean your child can’t have a rich, full life. However, it does come with obstacles. For instance, adults with cerebral palsy (even mild cases) are 22 times less likely to be employed than adults without CP. Children with brain damage are more likely to struggle with behavioral issues, autism spectrum disorder, and learning disabilities—in addition to their physical disabilities.

Overcoming these obstacles requires a great deal of resources that parents aren’t prepared to give. Brain injuries cost families between $941,000 and $3 million over the course of a person’s life. Living with CP costs parents $1 million over a lifetime (on top of the normal costs of raising a child). Experts on CP estimate that eighty percent of necessary expenses aren’t medical—meaning health insurance will provide no coverage for as much as $800,000 of your child’s potential lifetime costs.

Which is why pursuing a birth injury claim could be the solution to save your child’s future.

Compensation for Birth Injury Claims

No firm can make promises about if or how much you’d get from a claim. The best you can do is look at how much similar cases have secured in recent years. Our own firm has secured significant results for people injured by medical malpractice, including verdicts of $9 million, $4 million, $3.5 million, and more. However, every case is different—the size of your claim will depend on the costs associated with your baby’s current and future damages.

Your child’s injuries may qualify him or her to recover damages for:

• Past and future medical costs
• Rehabilitation and therapy
• Renovation to accommodate special needs
• Pain, suffering, and mental anguish
• Special education resources
• Mobility equipment
• Other lifelong needs

Due to the severity and lifelong nature of birth injuries, juries have historically been willing to hand down multimillion-dollar verdicts to victims. The size of these verdicts has, in turn, compelled hospitals to settle for similar amounts to avoid the publicity or cost of a trial. At our firm, we’ve secured over $400 million for our clients—and the largest verdicts and settlements were for cases of medical negligence and brain injuries.

What You Can Do Next

Now that you know all this, it’s time to consider your next step: finding out if you have a case. Our team provides free initial consultations to help parents learn about their legal options, helping them get the answers they need to make an informed decision. We’re happy to lead you through this next step—whether or not you decide to pursue a case.

With over 75 years of combined experience, hundreds of cases resolved, and $400 Million recovered under our belts, our birth injury attorneys in Atlanta could be the allies you’ve been looking for.

Call (888) 425-6070 or use our short online form to get in touch with our Atlanta birth injury lawyers. We’re available to meet you wherever you need us to discuss your case, hear your story, and get you answers.

Eric's Story

View More Stories