Birth Defect Lawsuit Attorney in Lake Worth, FL Dedicated to Safeguarding Clients’ Right to Compensation in Palm Beach County, Broward County and Across South Florida
Wrongful birth may seem like a harsh and ugly term to describe a situation where your child was unexpectedly born with some type of disability. The fact is, this term is used to describe a situation where your treating physician was in the wrong—cases where your doctor negligently failed to identify or inform you of known risks to your pregnancy or conception, thus also failing to give you the option of either terminating an existing pregnancy or avoiding conception altogether. Doctors and hospitals have the technology necessary to help predict the risk factors associated with so many known birth defects and disabilities, and when they fail to put those resources to work appropriately in your case, you may be entitled to compensation for that neglect. Our Florida wrongful birth lawyers can help you today.
At Gonzalez & Cartwright, P.A., we are sympathetic to the extreme emotional difficulties involved in bringing a wrongful birth case against a negligent healthcare provider. We also recognize the fact that your child needs specialized care, and that level of care is undoubtedly much more expensive than the typical costs associated with raising a child in South Florida.
Our dedicated Florida wrongful birth lawyers are committed to our fight to make sure you get the compensation to which you are fairly entitled so that you can protect your child’s future. We are proud to have served and protected the local community for over a decade, and believe our reputation in the community is the best indicator of our success. Call today to see how we can help you recover the compensation you need to provide the best possible life for your child.
Legal Basis for a South Florida Wrongful Birth Claim
Lawsuits for compensation based on wrongful birth are permitted in nearly half of the country, and Florida is one state that permits wrongful birth lawsuits. Wrongful birth claims in South Florida are premised upon a medical negligence theory—meaning that your doctor or another medical professional failed to act in accordance with his or her legal duties, as established within the medical community. Examples of actions or omissions that can give rise to an actionable wrongful birth claim include:
- Failure to order or properly interpret genetic testing,
- Failure to give parents information relating to the risk of birth defects or disabilities,
- Failing to offer, or explain or interpret the results of, amniocentesis,
- Failing to offer, or explain or interpret the results of, chorionic villus sampling (CVS test),
- Improper monitoring of the fetus as the pregnancy progressed, including failure to provide ultrasound tests,
- Situations where parents were provided with wrong or incomplete information regarding the likelihood of a fetus developing abnormally during genetic counseling,
- Improperly performed sterilization techniques or abortions.
We Help Clients Get Fair Compensation For Wrongful Birth Cases
In a wrongful birth case, your doctor deprived you of the option of continuing with the pregnancy by failing to adhere to accepted standards in the medical community. A wrongful birth claim for compensation can both hold the negligent doctor responsible for his or her actions in failing to provide you with the option to terminate the pregnancy, and also give you the financial resources that you need to care for your special needs child going forward. Our lawyers will fight to recover compensation for:
- Medical expenses necessary for treating your child’s disability,
- Physical therapy and rehabilitative costs,
- Costs of tuition for schooling if a specialized school is necessary because of your child’s disability,
- Costs related to care in the home or in an institution,
- Transportation-related expenses,
- Lost wages,
- Emotional damage resulting from the disability, and pain and suffering.
Caring for a special needs child takes substantial time and resources, and we understand that you may be stretched to the limit without even beginning to pursue a claim for compensation based on wrongful birth. At Gonzalez & Cartwright, P.A., our wrongful birth lawyers will handle every aspect of your claim for compensation, including by:
- Obtaining all documents and records related to your pregnancy and any counseling you received prior to conception,
- Consulting with medical experts to determine the relevant standard of care that your physician should have adhered to under the circumstances,
- Filing all necessary paperwork, including expert witness statements with the medical facility, doctor and courts,
- Advocating on your behalf through negotiations with insurance companies and in the courtroom if necessary.
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation to Discuss Your Wrongful Birth Claim with Our Lawyers Today
If your child was born with a disability or birth defect that you believe would have been detected prior to birth absent your medical provider’s negligence, call our Florida wrongful birth lawyers today, or fill out this secure online contact form. Your first consultation with our experienced West Palm Beach wrongful birth lawyers is free, and we will provide our honest opinion about potential options for recovering compensation in your case. Our offices are fully bilingual, so we can discuss your case in Spanish or English based upon your preference.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wrongful Birth Cases
Raising a child is expensive for everyone. In a wrongful birth action, you can likely only recover compensation that is specifically related to the disability or birth defect involved—not the ordinary costs of child-rearing.
A medical malpractice lawsuit for a birth injury involves a claim that the doctor or medical professional’s actions or omissions somehow caused the birth injury to occur. In a wrongful birth case, the doctor didn’t actually cause the disability or defect involved—it is the doctor’s negligent failure to identify the issue with proper testing, fetal monitoring or genetic screening, or the doctor’s failure to properly inform the parents of the issue, that provides the basis for the action.
