Pediatric Malpractice Lawyer

Common Cases a Pediatric Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help Your Family With

When a doctor or healthcare provider makes a mistake, the impact on a child’s developing body and brain can be far more serious, often leading to long-term or permanent consequences.

Caring for children in a medical setting requires more than just knowledge; it demands attentiveness, patience, and precision. Kids can’t always describe what they’re feeling, and their bodies respond differently than adults. That’s why pediatric care requires a higher level of care and awareness. 

Below are some examples of pediatric malpractice cases our pediatric medical malpractice attorneys can help you with: 

• Birth injuries: Injuries that occur during childbirth due to a doctor’s or nurse’s negligence, such as a delayed C-section, improper use of forceps, or lack of oxygen during delivery. These mistakes can result in conditions like cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries (Erb’s palsy), or even skull fractures.
• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis: When a doctor fails to identify a serious condition like meningitis, appendicitis, or cancer in time, it can delay treatment and allow the illness to progress, sometimes beyond the point of recovery.
• Surgical errors: Mistakes made during a surgical procedure, such as operating on the wrong body part, performing an unnecessary surgery, causing an infection, leaving a surgical tool inside the child, or damaging a nerve or organ.
• Medication errors: Giving a child the wrong drug, incorrect dosage, or a medication that triggers an allergic reaction. These types of errors are especially dangerous in pediatric care, as children’s bodies metabolize medication differently than adults.
• Anesthesia errors: Anesthesiologists failing to monitor a child’s vital signs correctly or administering too much or too little anesthesia. This can result in serious brain injuries or even death.
• Failure to treat: A medical professional failing to provide necessary treatment for a known condition, leading to the child’s health deteriorating.

What Our Pediatric Medical Malpractice Attorneys Will Prove In Your Case 

Pediatric malpractice claims are not like personal injury claims. The law around medical negligence is already complex, and when children are involved, the legal and medical issues multiply. Timelines for filing a claim may differ from adult cases. 

Medical standards vary based on a child’s age, size, and developmental stage. And proving that a provider’s actions or inaction directly caused the harm often depends on specialized medical knowledge and expert testimony.

To build a case, our pediatric malpractice lawyers must establish four key elements. These help determine whether a medical provider’s actions crossed the line from an unfortunate outcome to legal negligence:

• A Duty of Care Existed: First, we must show that the medical professional or hospital had a legal duty to care for your child. This usually means there was a doctor-patient relationship. Your child was under their care, and they were responsible for providing proper medical treatment.
• That Duty Was Breached: Then, we must prove the provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care. This means they did something no reasonably competent doctor would have done or failed to do something they should have, based on what is expected in pediatric medicine.
• An Injury Occurred: Without injury, there is no legal claim, even if an error occurred. We have to show that the mistake caused actual harm to your child. This may be physical, developmental, emotional, or financial.
• The Injury Was Directly Caused by the Medical Error: This is often the most complex part of a case and typically requires input from qualified medical experts. It must be clear that if the provider had followed the standard of care, the injury likely would have been avoided.

What Types of Compensation Can a Pediatric Medical Malpractice Attorney Help My Family Recover?

When a child is hurt because of a medical mistake, the financial burden can also be enormous and long-term. 

At The Lyon Firm, we fight to recover the full and fair compensation your family needs to move forward with stability and support. While no amount of money can undo what happened, it can make a real difference in your child’s care and quality of life.

Compensation in pediatric malpractice cases may include:

• Medical Expenses: Coverage for all past and future medical costs related to the injury. This may include hospital stays, surgeries, medications, diagnostic testing, follow-up visits, and ongoing specialized care.
• Rehabilitative Therapy: Many children require long-term support such as physical, occupational, or speech therapy, which can be incredibly costly over time.
• Special Needs and Adaptive Equipment: If your child now requires mobility aids like a wheelchair, communication devices, home modifications, or adaptive technologies, those costs can be recovered.
• Loss of Earning Capacity: If the injury impacts your child’s ability to work or live independently as an adult, we can pursue compensation to account for that future loss of income in addition to the time you take off work to care for your child.
• Pain and Suffering: This includes compensation for the physical pain your child has endured, as well as emotional trauma, anxiety, or distress related to the injury.
• Wrongful Death: Families may seek compensation for funeral costs, emotional suffering, and other lasting impacts.