How To Sue For A Miscarriage

There is nothing that can take back the trauma you have experienced from losing your unborn child as a result of an accident. However, if the accident is found to have been directly responsible for you having experienced a miscarriage, you may still be able to seek damages. 

What You Can Sue For

The damages you can sue for after losing a child as a result of the accident include:

  • Pain and suffering

  • Loss of wages

  • Medical expenses

Also, the father may be able to sue for mental anguish based on the age of the fetus at the time of the accident. For instance, in Florida, a fetus that is 41 weeks old can be the subject of a successful lawsuit by a father over pain and suffering.

Miscarriages And Worker's Compensation

If you have decided to continue working while pregnant and you suffer an injury at work that leads you to suffer a miscarriage, this is one factor that might contribute to your ability to obtain damages from a worker's compensation claim. You may not only receive full compensation for medical care, but you may also receive death benefits. If you experienced post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the accident and the loss of your child, this may also be used as justification to be awarded damages.

Proving That The Defendant Caused Your Miscarriage

To prove that the defendant was responsible for the accident, it must first be established that there was duty of care. In other words, the defendant must have a responsibility to create a safe environment that would have prevented you from experiencing a miscarriage. Then, the defendant must have breached this duty.

One of the complications of a miscarriage is that it is sometimes difficult to establish that certain actions lead to the miscarriage. For example, certain actions may have startled you and created stress that was sufficient enough to create a miscarriage. Events that may seem trivial when not pregnant might have contributed to the loss of the fetus. Therefore, you will need assistance from a personal injury attorney who is experienced with handling these cases.

A doctor will need to investigate the moment in which the miscarriage occurred and will also need to investigate what might have caused the miscarriage. Then, you will need to demonstrate, with medical evidence, that the miscarriage would not have occurred without the breach of duty of care. 

For further assistance, contact a local personal injury lawyer, such as one from Elliott & MacLean LLP.


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