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Not all birth injury lawsuits are filed in a traditional manner. Cases against health maintenance organizations (HMOs), the Veteran’s Administration and midwifes use the same theories of law, but often have different venue requirements.

Same law – different venue

According to Jeff Milman, an attorney who has been practicing medical negligence law for 26 years and member of the Advocate Law Group, the process is similar in any venue as lawyers need to prove three things; liability, causation and damages – and in birth injury cases – they do that by using experts. However, when HMOs or the Veteran’s Administration are involved, additional factors may apply. Milman explained:

The HMO issues deal with the fact that you may be bound by an arbitration agreement such as Kaiser Permanente or if it’s a Veteran’s Administration case, you may be bound in federal court. However, whether you pursue a doctor, a nurse or an HMO, the issues are pretty much the same. Did a professional breach the acceptable standard of care? In other words, was somebody negligent? Did they mess up, and if so, was it a cause of injury?

Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed care organization in the United States uses an arbitration process to settle disputes – which is basically a less formal venue than you would have in court. Milman has handled many cases against Kaiser, so we asked him for his experience with the health care giant. Here’s what he said:

Well, the law is the same. I’m not a fan of arbitration, although I will say that I have won certain cases in arbitration that a jury may not have given money on. By and by, you tend to have a retired judge as an arbitrator and they tend to be a little more conservative than a jury. However, the damages are the same.

Kaiser now has fixed rules. Before they were somewhat guilty of taking too long and our Supreme Court in California was very critical of them. They’ve now put together what they call the OIA, or Office of Independent Administrator, and the goal is to get these cases to trial within 12 to 18 months and they are succeeding in that regard.

Midwifes

Although not as popular now, midwifes are still used to deliver babies – and they may also be liable for medical negligence in a birth injury case. Milman commented, “I have had a few of those cases. By and by, midwives are not the flavor of the month, as it were. So they’re not as prevalent as they once were. But yes, if a midwife is negligent, they, as a medical provider, have the same exposure as any other medical provider such as a nurse, a nurse practitioner or a doctor.”

If your child was profoundly injured or died as the result of medical negligence, contact an attorney whose practice focuses in this area of law for help. To contact an experienced attorney near you, please click here.