When Is Expert Testimony Needed in a Birth Injury Case?

Cases involving birth injuries or other complex medical considerations, such as brain injury, can often benefit from expert testimony. A legal team experienced in birth injury cases can help you understand your burden of proof and how expert witnesses can help with it.

What Is Expert Testimony in a Birth Injury Case?

Expert testimony refers to the information and opinions provided by professionals with qualifications and experience relevant to a case. In a birth injury case, you might need experts who can help explain complex medical injuries or processes to judges, juries, or others who are not doctors. The information and insight expert witnesses provide can help courts or juries decide about liability in a birth injury case and what type of compensation might be relevant.

What Type of Experts Might Be Relevant to a Birth Injury Personal Injury Case?

The type of experts that might provide relevant testimony in your case depends on the injury in question and the negligence involved. Some common types of experts involved in birth injury cases include:

  • Obstetricians. These doctors can answer questions about the care a mother received during pregnancy and the procedures and care provided during birth.
  • Neonatal or pediatricians. These specialists can discuss the care provided to an infant during and immediately following birth. They may also be able to discuss the long-term impacts of any injury.
  • Life care planners. Financial experts can provide information about the cost of care relevant to a long-term injury or condition.
  • Medical specialists. Depending on your case, radiologists, anesthesiologists, and other doctors may be able to provide specific insight into how an injury occurred.

What Kind of Testimony Might Experts Provide?

Your attorneys can help you understand what testimony may be most relevant to your case and how different experts can speak to the facts of your case. However, some types of expert testimony are especially common in birth injury cases.

Discussions Regarding Standard of Care

Often in birth injury cases, you need to demonstrate that someone failed in providing an adequate standard of care and that the failure resulted in the injury. However, judges and juries are not medical professionals and can’t be expected to automatically know the appropriate standard of care. An expert witness such as a clinician can explain the generally accepted standard of care and what processes and actions might be expected of professionals during labor and delivery and in caring for a newborn right after.

Your lawyer might also ask expert witnesses to review information about a case, such as medical records. The witness can then answer questions about whether the information indicates the appropriate standard of care was provided.

Explainations About Potential Causation

Expert witnesses can review medical records and other information relevant to a case to provide insight about causation. For example, if you claim that a slow response to issues during the birth process led to a birth injury, a third-party medical expert can provide an opinion on whether that’s possible. They can also review documentation about the birth and offer an opinion about whether it is likely in your case.

The Impact of Injuries Now and in the Future

Birth injuries and major birth trauma can lead to immediate losses in the form of additional medical expenses. For example, in cases involving birth trauma, the length of stay for the newborn in the hospital increases by an average of 56 percent.

A severe birth injury can create the need for long-term medical care and cause other future losses. Medical and financial experts can help quantify some of these future expenses. They may speak to:

  • The severity and extent of the injury
  • What type of treatment and support may be required in the future
  • How the injury may impact the child with regard to learning, growing, mobility, and other life tasks
  • How much treatment and other necessary interventions may cost over the life of the injured child

Is Your Expert a Good Witness?

It’s important to ensure that your expert witnesses have credibility. You should consider their qualifications and whether they have the experience to speak confidently about your case. Courts, juries, and others may look closely at expert witness credentials and experience when determine how much weight to give their testimony.

It’s also critical that your witness presents reliable testimony that can be backed up by sound methodology. When you work with experienced birth injury attorneys, they may know experts in the field who are credible and who provide reliable testimony. Your lawyers will also likely review witness testimony before calling someone to provide information in a court room. If a witness would not help your case, your attorney may not choose to call them.

Work With a Personal Injury Law Team on Your Birth Injury Case

Access to expert witnesses and help knowing when expert testimony may help is only one reason to work with experienced personal injury attorneys for your birth injury case. Lawyers with experience in birth injury cases can provide guidance about your options and rights, help you gather evidence and create a narrative supporting your claim, and present your case in court or during negotiations with insurance companies or other defendants.

To learn more about how the right legal team can help with your birth injury case, contact Thon Beck Vanni Callahan & Powell, A Professional Corporation, by calling 626-208-9906.