When a medical professional’s negligence leads to a birth injury, families are often left with devastating financial and emotional burdens. From lifelong medical care to lost earning potential and emotional pain and suffering, the cost of a preventable birth injury can be enormous.
If your child was injured due to medical malpractice, you may be entitled to compensation under California law. The value of your case depends on many factors, including the severity of the injury, the presence of long-term needs, and the impact on your family’s life.
Learning how birth injury compensation is calculated can help you know what to expect if you pursue a claim. Read on to learn more, and contact a Los Angeles medical malpractice lawyer for a free consultation if you need legal help.
What Types of Damages Are Available in a Birth Injury Case?
In California, birth injury claims generally include two types of damages: economic and non-economic. In rare cases, punitive damages might also be available.
Economic damages cover the measurable financial losses related to the injury. These may include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation and therapy
- In-home nursing or specialized care
- Medical equipment and home modifications
- Lost wages and decreased earning capacity
These damages are calculated based on documentation such as bills, expert testimony, and projections of long-term costs. For serious birth injuries, the lifetime cost of care can exceed millions of dollars, especially when ongoing treatment or 24-hour care is required.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, compensate for intangible losses such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of quality of life
These damages don’t have a clear financial value, and so they’re often determined by forms of evidence like expert analysis and testimony.
How Does California Law Affect Birth Injury Compensation?
California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) limits the amount of non-economic damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice cases. As of 2025, the cap is $430,000 in cases involving injury and $600,000 in cases involving wrongful death. These limits will gradually increase each year until 2034, when they reach $750,000 and $1 million, respectively, and will continue to rise by 2% annually from there.
However, note that there is no limit on economic damages. Families can still recover the full value of all medical costs and financial losses caused by negligence, no matter how high those expenses are.
This distinction makes it critical to document every financial impact of your child’s injury, including future medical care and reduced lifetime income, as these form the foundation of your total compensation.
How Lawyers and Experts Can Help You Calculate Your Birth Injury Damages
Attorneys often work closely with specialists to determine fair compensation in these cases because birth injury claims almost always involve complex medical and financial issues. Our legal team may consult with, for example:
- Medical experts to explain how the provider’s negligence caused the injury in question
- Life-care planners to estimate the cost of long-term care and rehabilitation
- Economists to calculate lost earning capacity and inflation-adjusted expenses
These experts help ensure that every aspect of your child’s future needs is accounted for, from ongoing treatments to the emotional strain on your family.
Get Legal Help From an Experienced California Birth Injury Lawyer
Calculating birth injury compensation requires both legal skill and medical insight. At The Law Offices of Dr. Bruce G. Fagel & Associates, we’ve recovered billions of dollars for our clients and are led by a doctor who is also a practicing attorney. That gives us a distinct advantage as we pursue medical malpractice claims and forces the opposing party to take us seriously from the start.
Call us today at (800) 541-9376 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation. We’re confident we can help you take legal action and pursue maximum compensation as the law allows.
