The 10 Most Scariest Things About Cerebral Palsy Attorneys

How to Make a Successful Cerebral Palsy Claim

A diagnosis of cerebral paralysis has a profound impact on the life of the child as well as that of their family. Compensation can help them live an active and full life by allowing access to care, equipment and assistance.

Many cases of cerebral palsy lawsuits palsy result from medical negligence. This can be caused by an absence of prenatal care, problems during labour and delivery or other incidents.

Causes

Early diagnosis and treatment for CP can enhance a child's abilities. Doctors diagnose CP by observing the muscle tone of a child and coordination, as well as movement. They can refer a child to specialists like neurologists, orthopedists for children and physiatrists to assist in managing symptoms and improving life-quality.

Everyone is affected by cerebral palsy in a different way. It can be mild, with minimal impact on a child's function, or it can be extremely severe and cause physical impairments throughout the body. Some of the symptoms include a floppy (floppy neck) head as well as stiff or uncontrolled muscles that are difficult to walk, or having difficulty speaking and other functions. If a child has cerebral palsy on one side of the body, this is known as hemiplegia. On both sides, it's diplegia. In severe cases, CP could cause a locked in (spastic) condition, characterized by muscle spasticity. This may limit the person's mobility and result in difficulty speaking and eating.

Childbirth-related medical errors are the most common reason for CP. Nurses, midwives, and doctors should be cautious when delivering babies because damage to the brain could have serious consequences. If a medical error results in oxygen deprivation or other brain injury that causes cerebral palsy, the physician could be held responsible for negligence. This includes negligence when scheduling or performing an urgent C-section or inability to monitor and escalate a complex labor.

Symptoms

If your child has cerebral palsy, he or is likely to experience a combination of physical symptoms. This could include stiff or tight joints and limbs, a limp, erratic movement, and issues with balance and posture. Other problems include speech delays, intellectual disabilities and vision and hearing problems.

The symptoms of cerebral palsy result from damage to the brain's maturation. This occurs most often in the early years of childhood. A slowing down in reaching milestones such as rolling over, sitting up, crawling or walking is a typical sign of CP. Children with CP are also more likely to experience difficulties swallowing and may require feeding tubes.

There are a variety of factors that can contribute to the brain injury that causes CP. These include infections like toxoplasmosis and rubella in the womb, high blood pressure during pregnancy and genetic predisposition. Asphyxia (a massive lack of oxygen) during delivery or Cerebral Palsy labor is the leading cause of CP.

Based on the type of cerebral palsy, the symptoms can range from mild to severe. Spastic cerebral palsy (characterized by stiff muscles) is the most frequent form. Dyskinetic cerebral palsy (also known as athetoid or choreoathetoid) involves slow and uncontrolled motions of the arms, legs and the body. Other types of CP might include ataxic palsy, which has a shaky motion, or paraplegic cerebral palsy in which legs and arms are affected.

Treatment

While the specific symptoms of cerebral palsy are different, the majority of sufferers have to deal with stiffness and loss of muscle control. They may also be struggling with coordination and balance. The type of problem that they experience is based on the brain region that was injured and the extent of the injury.

Many people with CP need special physical therapy to improve their mobility, muscle tone, and stretch their joints and muscles. It can also ease the discomfort and prevent contracture. Braces, exercises, or other treatments could be included.

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

Speech and language therapy can be used to aid children who are not able to communicate effectively. It can help children develop new ways of communicating and may include signing language, a communication board or voice synthesizers.

They can relax overactive or stiff muscles, reduce abnormal movement, relieve pain, and control seizures. These medications are ingested by mouth or injected into affected muscles or into the fluid around the spinal cord.

Compensation

A successful cerebral palsy claim can result in compensation for your child to pay for medical equipment, specialist care and treatment. This will be determined by the psychological and physical impacts that your child's condition has caused on them, in addition to any expenses and losses you've had to pay. This could include loss of earnings due to having to take a break from work to take care of your children, house modifications and transport expenses.

Your lawyer could hire an expert in disability dependent on the extent of the injury to your child. The specialist will write an "life care plan" that will outline their needs starting at the time of diagnosis until they are adults. This can help you determine the most accurate amount of compensation. It usually will be lump sums and regular annual payments that are adjusted to keep pace with the rate of inflation.

You must be aware that the amount of compensation you receive from a legal action isn't a huge sum. It is a recognition of the injustice that occurred due to the fact that a medical professional did not meet their duty of care during labour, pregnancy, and delivery.