Cerebral palsy lawsuits

What is cerebral palsy? 

  
          Cerebral palsy is the most common term when referring to a groups of conditions affecting nerves and muscle ergo impairing locomotor skills and muscle development.         Cerebral palsy is a noncontagious chronic illness and those affected by it are faced with very difficult challenges throughout their lives.



         This condition may occur from pregnancy up to the age of three and is mainly caused by damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain hence the word "cerebral " ( the region of the brain affected) and palsy referring to disorder of movement.  Resulting limits in movement and posture cause activity limitation and are often accompanied by disturbances of sensation, depth perception and other sight-based perceptual problems, communication ability; impairments can also be found in cognition, and epilepsy is found in about one-third of cases. CP, no matter what the type, is often accompanied by secondary musculoskeletal problems that arise as a result of the underlying etiology.

Who's to blame?

      While in some cases is really hard to determine the cause, usually it happens due to certain problems during pregnancy or complications at birth such as oxygen deprivation , hypoxia of the brain and birth trauma during labor and delivery. Study have shown though , that the primary cause would be a not easily detected infection in the mother during pregnancy. 
      Post birth causes include severe jaundice, lead poisoning, physical brain injury, shaken baby syndrome, incidents involving hypoxia to the brain (such as near drowning), and encephalitis or meningitis. The three most common causes of asphyxia in the young child are: choking on foreign objects such as toys and pieces of food, poisoning, and near drowning.   
      However, each year, thousands of cerebral palsy cases are caused by medical malpractice and negligence during pregnancy and delivery. A doctor may be responsible for failing to diagnose and treat an infection in the pregnant mother. 
     Human error can be found during child birth delivery in numerous forms, from failure to detect if the baby has enough oxygen to improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction. 

Who can file a cerebral palsy lawsuit?

     Every year,  numerous malpractice lawsuit are being filed against doctors thought responsible for birth injuries. In 2011 a family in Connecticut has been awarded  a verdict of $58 million dollars. A big sum you think? Think again. Cerebral palsy is a very serious condition and it affects the child for life making it extremely difficult for him to live a close to normal life without special and often expensive treatment.
Parents of an infant born with cerebral palsy have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit if they believe it happened at the fault of the doctor or someone in the delivery team.
It is true that nothing can change the harm done but the damages received if they win the case may give their child a chance for proper treatment .