The 10 Most Terrifying Things About Cerebral Palsy Attorneys

How to Make a Successful Cerebral Palsy Claim

A diagnosis of cerebral palsy can have an impact on the child and their family. Compensation can allow them to live a full life with access to equipment, treatment and support.

Many cases of cerebral palsy result from medical negligence. This can be due to the lack of care during pregnancy, problems during the birth process or other incidents.

Causes

There is no cure for CP, but early diagnosis and treatment may improve the capabilities of a child. Doctors can diagnose CP by observing the muscle tone of a child and coordination, as well as movement. They may refer the child to specialists like neurologists, orthopedists for children and physiatrists to aid in managing symptoms and improve the quality of life.

Everyone is affected by cerebral palsy in different ways. It can be mild having a minimal impact on a child's ability perform, or it can be severe and cause impairments throughout the body. The signs include a floppy (floppy neck) head and stiff or uncontrolled muscles as well as difficulty walking or having difficulty speaking and other functions. If a child has cerebral palsy on one side of the body, it's called hemiplegia. If it occurs on both sides, it's known as diplegia. In severe cases, CP could result in a locked in (spastic) condition, characterized by muscle spasticity. This can restrict the movement of a person and make it difficult to speak and eating.

Birth-related medical errors are the most common cause of CP. Midwives, doctors and nurses must be extra cautious when giving birth to babies since brain damage can cause serious harm. If a medical error results in oxygen deprivation or other brain damage that leads to cerebral palsy, the physician could be held responsible for negligence. This could include negligence in scheduling or performing an urgent C-section, or inability to supervise and escalate the complexity of labor.

Signs and symptoms

If your child is suffering from cerebral palsy, he or will likely suffer from several physical symptoms. These could include tight or stiff joints as well as a limp, uncontrolled movement and issues with balance and posture. Other issues could include intellectual disability, speech delays as well as hearing and vision issues.

The symptoms of cerebral palsy result from damage to the brain's maturation. It is most commonly seen in the early years of childhood. A delay in milestones like sitting, rolling over, crawling, or walking can be an indication of CP. Children with CP are also more likely to experience difficulties swallowing and may require a feeding tube.

Several factors may contribute to a brain injury causing CP. This includes infections like toxoplasmosis or rubella in the womb; high blood pressure during pregnancy and genetic predisposition. A serious lack of oxygen to the brain (asphyxia) during labor or delivery is a major cause for CP as is the occurrence of bleeding in the brain that results from blood vessels that are damaged or blocked.

Based on the kind of cerebral palsy, symptoms can vary from mild to severe. Spastic cerebral palsy (characterized by stiff muscles) is the most common form. Dyskinetic cerebral palsy (also called athetoid or choreoathetoid) is characterized by slow, uncontrolled movement of the arms, legs and body. Other types of CP can include ataxic palsy, which is characterized by an unstable motion, or paraplegic cerebral palsy in which the arms and legs are affected.

Treatment

While the symptoms specific to cerebral palsy can vary, a majority of sufferers of the condition have to deal with stiffness and loss of muscle control. They may also be struggling with coordination and balance. The type of problems they suffer from depend on the area of their brain that was injured as well as its extent of the injury.

Many people with CP require specific physical therapy in order to improve their muscle tone, mobility and stretch their muscles and joints. It also helps relieve pain and prevent contractures. Braces, exercises, or other treatments can be incorporated.

Musculoskeletal conditions like patella alta, hip dysplasia, cervical stenosis, and scoliosis are common in CP. These disorders can lead to major mobility problems and reduce life expectancy.

Other treatments include speech and language therapy for children who cannot communicate effectively. It can help children develop new ways of communicating. These could include sign language, a communication board or voice synthesizers.

Medications can be used to relax overactive or stiff muscles, reduce abnormal movement, relieve pain, and control seizures. The medication is taken by mouth or injected into affected muscles or into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord.

Compensation

A successful cerebral palsy claim could result in compensation for your child to pay for specialized care, equipment and treatment. This will be determined by the physical and psychological impact that your child's condition has caused on them, as well as any costs or losses that you've incurred. This could include losing earnings because you have had to take a break from work to care for your child, home adaptions and transport costs to get your child to and from appointments.

The lawyer you hire may employ an expert in disability care in accordance with the severity of the injuries to your child. The specialist will create a "life care plan" that details their needs from the moment they are diagnosed until they reach the age of adulthood. This will allow you to calculate an accurate amount of compensation. This is usually in the form of a lump-sum as well as regular annual payments which can be index to keep pace with inflation.

You should know that the compensation for a successful legal case is not a monetary windfall. It's a way of acknowledging an unfairness that was caused by the medical professional failed to perform their duty of care during labour, cerebral palsy pregnancy and birth.