United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My daughter was diagnosed with OBPI. She is now 14 months old. My husband and I have been talking about suing the doc that delivered our daughter. Neither one of us make that much $ and the medical bills just seem to keep piling up. We can't really afford a lawyer and have talked to a couple of injury lawyers that don't require any payment unless we recieve anything from the lawsuit. We don't know if we want to go that route. Has anyone out there sued their doc for this condition? Any advice? What should we expect if we do decide to sue?
Thanks Terri

Terri
Many families do pursue litigation, I think you wil get more answers if you post on the General message baords, more families fo there.
Good Luck
Karen

Hi, my daughter is 20 months and we are suing the hospital I delivered at for medical negligence. In my case both the doctor and the hospital were wrong but the doctor who delivered my daughter saved her life to so I very well can not go and sue him when she could have very well not been here to this day.
We are using some lawyers here in Dallas that work w/o money until the suit is over. I recommened that you do whatever you feel necessary bc in the long run those medical bills are going to get expensive (therapy & surgery)If you want to talk feel free to email me.

I don't know the details of your case,but if a lawyer deceides to take your case then it's worth suing.Usually a medical malpractice lawyer won't take your case unless they know they can win.As far as there fee goes if your child wins the money goes into probate and they will decide if the lawyers are charging to much,meaning if your child does not win all that much than the lawyers fee may go down.It's always worth looking into.And it's not just about the money but about justice.

I don't know the details of your case,but if a lawyer deceides to take your case then it's worth suing.Usually a medical malpractice lawyer won't take your case unless they know they can win.As far as there fee goes if your child wins the money goes into probate and they will decide if the lawyers are charging to much,meaning if your child does not win all that much than the lawyers fee may go down.It's always worth looking into.And it's not just about the money but about justice.

Terri,
All personal injury lawyers don't require payment unless you win or settle. We began the suing process when my child turned 1 and settled when he was 5 1/2. There's a lot of time involved. Part of it I believe is to see how much recovery your child gets and how much surgery etc she'll need. Expect a deposition at some point - you get together with your lawyer and their lawyer's and you answer questions about what happened. It was one of the MOST stressful days of my life, if not THE most stressful. The doctor was not there, but her lawyer's tried to make me sound like an idiot who didn't know what she was talking about. The hardest part is keeping your cool. We never got to the point of going to trial, we settled before that came up. My understanding is that most cases that go to trial lose. Not all, but most. The reason being is jury's like to believe that doctor's don't make mistakes and people are just sue happy. It makes no sense at all, but it is what happens. A lawyer will not take your case if he/she doesn't feel he can win. Doesn't mean he will of course, but there are a lot of good lawyers out there.
I read your other post about your daughter's recovery. I think you need another opinion. There are several choices of doc's to see, but you'll most likely have to travel. Texas Children's Hospital will accept a video tape of your child as a simple evaluation. There is information on www.injurednewborn.com about sending a tape to them. We had a doc do about 6 emg's on my child as an infant. He did it to "check progress", but we came to the conclusion he was using my son for research and quit...he was also the doc who said to NOT have surgery. Had we known better (if only this site was around then...) my child would have undoubtedly had a better outcome. Do all you can. You are your child's advocate.
You're doing the right thing posting for other opinions. There's always more than one way to do thing...when you're educated as to your options, you can hopefully feel good about your final decisions.
Best of luck to you...