Experienced Ohio Birth Injury Lawyer

The Cleveland law firm you can trust with your birth injury lawsuit

The birth of a child should be a wonderful moment in a parent’s life. That’s why a birth injury can be such a traumatic event. Instead of celebrating your child’s birth, you suddenly have to face a wide range of medical and legal issues during one of the most emotional and upsetting moments in your life.

Worst of all, many birth injuries can be prevented. Often, such injuries occur due to medical negligence or medical errors made by doctors, nurses or other medical professionals. When that happens, your family may be eligible to receive financial compensation for all your birth injury-related expenses. That’s why it’s critical that you take strong legal action right away.

Nationally renowned, award-winning Ohio birth injury attorney John A. Lancione can help your family demand the justice you deserve. He has an in-depth understanding of the legal system and how it applies to birth injury cases in Ohio and nationwide. That’s why other lawyers regularly refer birth injury cases to The Lancione Law Firm in Rocky River near Cleveland. They know we know how to get the job done right.

Why you should choose our law firm

There are many reasons why we believe The Lancione Law Firm is the right choice for you, including:

We only handle birth injury and medical negligence cases. It’s all we do.
Attorney Lancione has more than three decades of legal experience handling birth injury claims. He knows what to expect and how to respond effectively.
Attorney Lancione has an AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®, the highest possible peer rating in the legal profession. We’re the law firm other lawyers respect.
Attorney Lancione will personally handle your case and provide you with his personal cellphone number. We’re available on your terms.
We carefully investigate every case and know how to find the evidence that matters. We leave no stone unturned in pursuit of the truth.
We know how to negotiate settlement agreements effectively with insurance companies. We know what tactics work.
We prepare every case to go to trial if necessary. We know how to wage a legal battle.

We also never forget what matters most – your family’s best interests. That’s why we promise to take the time to get to know the legal and medical issues facing your family. Some law firms avoid such challenging cases. We thrive on them and welcome the opportunity to help your family when you need our assistance the most. We take your concerns seriously and welcome the opportunity to earn your trust.

Our birth injury case results

In case after case, birth injury attorney Lancione consistently obtains sizable settlements and verdicts that allow families to live their lives with dignity and respect. Some of our notable birth injury case results include:

$14.2 Million – Brain Damage Birth Injury Due To Hospital Negligence
$12.6 Million – Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Due To Obstetrician Negligence
$9 Million – Birth Injury Due To Uterine Rupture

Learn more about our case results here.

Birth injuries by the numbers

Nationwide

26,200 – Estimated number of birth injuries each year.
20,900 – Estimated number of infant deaths each year.
7 in 1,000 – Estimated number of children born with a birth injury.
5.8 in 1,000 – Infant mortality rate.

Ohio

7.2 in 1,000 – Infant mortality rate.
24.1 percent higher – Ohio’s infant mortality rate compared to national average.

(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC))

Birth injuries happen more often than you might realize. Don’t become another statistic. Get the legal help your family needs. Contact our Ohio law firm in Rocky River as soon as possible.

What are common birth injuries?

A birth injury can be any injury a child sustains before, during or shortly after birth. Some of the most common birth injuries include:

Cerebral Palsy – An estimated 3 out 1,000 children are born with cerebral palsy, a muscle disorder that can affect a child’s ability to move. Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the brain which impairs a child’s development.
Brain Injury – Damage to a newborn child’s brain during pregnancy, delivery or soon after a child’s birth often occurs due to medical negligence.
Spinal Cord Injury – Mistakes made by medical professionals can cause damage to a newborn baby’s spine, especially during the delivery process due to misuse of forceps and other medical equipment.
Shoulder Injury – Doctors and obstetricians need to carefully monitor a baby’s development during pregnancy and delivery. Otherwise, shoulder injuries often occur, including brachial plexus injuries and shoulder dystocia.
Facial Paralysis (Bell’s Palsy) – Damage to a newborn baby’s facial muscles can occur during the child’s delivery, especially if medical professionals misuse forceps or vacuum extraction equipment. Bell’s Palsy is an especially common form of facial paralysis involving newborn children.

These are just some of the most common birth injuries families can face due to medical negligence. There are also many other types of injuries involving pregnant women and newborn children. Many of these injuries occur due to mistakes made by medical professionals. Whatever the circumstances of your birth injury, you can count on our Ohio law firm to investigate your claim and be there for your family during this difficult time in your lives.

What are warning signs of a birth injury?

There are many different ways you can tell if your child sustained a birth injury during pregnancy, delivery or soon after. This is why it’s critical that your doctor and other medical professionals treating you and your baby understand the maternal risk factors and fetal risk factors often associated with preventable birth injuries.

Some of the warning signs of a birth injury may be noticeable just a few minutes after the birth of a child. That’s why it’s important to understand your child’s APGAR scores and what they actually mean.

Other birth injuries take months or sometimes years to develop. Parents and physicians can identify a possible birth injury by carefully monitoring for developmental delays and milestones not achieved by a certain time. While every child is different, such delays in a child’s development (including their physical and cognitive development) may be an indication of a preventable birth injury due to medical negligence. Such warning signs may include:

Weakness or difficulty moving their arms or legs.
Frequent muscle spasms, seizures or tremors.
Abnormal or irregular heartbeat.
Swelling of the hands, arms or other parts of the body.
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
Difficulty focusing their eyes on a fixed object.
Difficulty speaking or understanding words.
Trouble feeding or unexplained weight loss.

You know your child best. If something doesn’t seem right a few days, weeks or even months after their birth, tell your pediatrician right away. If they’re not sure what’s wrong, demand additional medical tests if necessary. Your child’s health and well-being should always come first. And the sooner a birth injury can be diagnosed, the better.

How do birth injuries happen?

In many cases, birth injuries occur due to medical negligence. This means a doctor, nurse or another medical professional made a mistake that resulted in a serious injury, illness or fatality. Common reasons why preventable birth injuries occur due to mistakes made by medical professionals include:

Obstetric malpractice
Misdiagnosed pregnancy complications
Cesarean section errors
Postpartum medical negligence

If you suspect that you or your child sustained an injury before, during or soon after your child’s birth, these are the relevant legal questions:

Did the doctor, nurse, OB/GYN, etc., have a duty of care to you and your child?
Did they breach their duty of care by failing to act or making an error?
Did their efforts or treatment deviate from the acceptable standard of care?

If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions, you may have grounds for a birth injury claim. Only an attorney can determine whether this legal standard is met. That’s why it’s important to talk to a birth injury lawyer who understands why birth injuries happen and how the legal system works.

How much is my birth injury claim worth?

There’s no set dollar amount when it comes to birth injuries. The bottom line is your family should be fairly compensated for all your injury-related expenses. What you might not realize is just how many expenses can and should be covered by your birth injury claim.

It’s not just emergency medical care and surgical procedures involving the birth or delivery of your child. All future expenses – even ones that occur years from now – should be covered if your child’s injury occurred due to medical negligence or mistakes made by medical professionals. Such expenses may include:

Follow-up surgery due to long-term or lifelong medical issues.
Follow-up doctor’s appointments to monitor your child’s health.
Physical therapy or rehabilitation to address mobility issues.
Prescription medications to treat chronic pain or other medical issues.
Medical devices used to assist a child with a physical disability.
In-home health care, including live-in nursing care in certain circumstances.
Childcare expenses.
Education expenses, including speech therapy, if necessary.

Such expenses can easily add up to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars over the course of your child’s lifetime. If you do not take steps to seek compensation, you could end up having to pay for some or all of these expenses out of your own pocket. Don’t miss out on what might be your only opportunity to obtain all the money you rightfully deserve. Talk to a lawyer as soon as possible to learn more about your legal options.

What rights do parents have in Ohio?

If a medical professional caused your child’s birth injury due to negligence, your family may be eligible to receive financial compensation for your medical bills and other injury-related expenses, which can quickly spiral out of control.

However, just because you are eligible to receive money for your child’s medical expenses does not mean you will automatically receive such compensation. Doctors, hospitals and other medical institutions will hire attorneys to defend their actions and reduce or deny your claim.

It’s also important to understand that you only have a limited amount of time to take legal action in Ohio and other states in cases involving medical negligence and other medical errors. Such deadlines (known as statutes of limitations) can be as short as one year after the birth of your child in some circumstances. Other times, you might have significantly more time due to Ohio’s exception for minors under 18-years-old rule, according to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) § 2305.16.

Don’t underestimate the complexity of your legal case. Make sure you fully understand your rights, legal options and the deadlines that apply to your birth injury claim. Talk to an experienced attorney at our law firm right away. We’re here for you when you need us most.

Don’t give up hope. We can help. Contact our Ohio law firm

Legal cases involving birth injuries can often take months or sometimes years to resolve. Often, it’s because the at-fault medical professionals deny doing anything wrong. We understand how frustrating and upsetting such cases can be for families. But we want you to know that we’re prepared to be there for you for the long haul.

Ohio birth injury lawyer John A. Lancione knows how to handle such complex legal cases. He knows how to investigate them and what evidence to look for. You can count on him to wage a fierce legal battle on your behalf, no matter how long it takes.

The Lancione Law Firm has decades of experience of fighting for families in Cleveland and across the country. We consistently obtain sizable settlements and multi-million-dollar verdicts involving birth injury litigation. As your lawyer, we can work with you to seek justice for your injury or loss.

Rocky River birth injury attorney Lancione and our medically trained legal team are skilled at identifying and litigating all types of cases involving preventable birth injuries. We know how to analyze medical records and consult with medical experts for in-depth analysis to determine the exact cause of your birth injury.

Many insurance companies representing doctors, surgeons and other medical professionals agree to negotiate in good faith and make a fair settlement offer once they realize we’re serious about your case. If not, we will not hesitate to file a birth injury lawsuit or take other legal action on your behalf. We’re prepared to go the distance on your behalf.

Discover what we can do for you. Contact us and schedule a free consultation at our Rocky River, Ohio law firm. You can reach us online or call (440) 331-6100 or (877) 515-4369 to speak with Cleveland birth injury lawyer John A. Lancione. You can count on us to be there for you every step of the way.