Cerebral Palsy is one of the most common birth injuries that affects children. It can have life-changing consequences that often necessitate expensive medical care, and it is usually the result of medical care failure to provide appropriate care.
When your child has developed cerebral palsy because a medical care provider fell short in fulfilling their obligations to you, you should reach out to a Conshohocken cerebral palsy lawyer as soon as possible. Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C., has helped many families pursue justice and get the funds they need and deserve to best support their kids.
To schedule your free consultation and find out how our Conshohocken medical malpractice lawyer can help you, give us a call or contact us online today.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral Palsy, or CP, is a medical term used to describe a group of disorders impacting muscle tone and movement. Typically, CP develops as a result of a lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain when it is developing in utero, during the birthing process, or in the immediate aftermath.
There are different kinds of CP, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. These include:
- Spastic CP: This is the most common type of CP, and it results in stiff muscles that cause repetitive or jerky motions.
- Dyskinetic CP: This involves jerky movements of the hands, arms, feet, and legs. Often, the movements can’t be controlled. This can also cause overactive facial muscles, resulting in aggressive drooling, and people who have this condition may have a hard time walking or sitting straight.
- Ataxic CP: This affects balance and depth perception. Both quick movements and precise movements are difficult.
- Mixed type: This means that the child has a mix of symptoms from other types of CP.
How Does A Birth Injury Cause Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy results from damage to the brain as it is developing. Many different things could cause this damage, including:
- Genetics
- Maternal infections such as cytomegalovirus, German measles, herpes, syphilis, toxoplasmosis, Zika virus, or an intrauterine infection
- Brain bleeding in the womb or as a newborn
- Fetal stroke
- Traumatic head injury, such as if a baby falls and suffers physical trauma
- Lack of oxygen due to problems during labor and delivery
- Exposure to toxins, including methyl mercury
- Maternal seizures
- Preeclampsia
- Illnesses in infants, including bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis, severe or untreated jaundice, or brain bleeding
Some causes of cerebral palsy are unavoidable, such as genetic factors. Our Conshohocken birth injury attorneys have helped in other situations where medical errors or failures in care contributed or directly caused the birth injury that leads to cerebral palsy.
Symptoms Of Cerebral Palsy
The specific symptoms of cerebral palsy can range from very mild to extremely severe. Potential symptoms include:
- Spasticity: This is the most common CP-related movement condition, and it includes stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes
- Muscle tone issues: This could include being too floppy or too stiff
- Rigidity: This includes muscle stiffness with regular reflexes
- Ataxia: This is a medical term used to describe a lack of balance and muscle coordination.
- Tremors: This includes jerky and uncontrolled movements
- Favoring one side of the body: Examples include dragging one leg when walking or crawling, or only being able to reach with one hand.
- Walking difficulties: Common problems include walking on your toes, having a scissor-like walk with crossing knees, an unsteady walk, or a wide gait.
- Problems with fine motor skills: This can include difficulty buttoning clothing or picking up items.
- Speech difficulties: This can include delays in speech development or other communication challenges.
- Eating problems: This may include difficulty sucking, chewing, or swallowing.
- Delayed development: CP may cause you to be late in reaching motor skills milestones, or it may result in learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or delayed growth
These symptoms are typically permanent, and they can be life-changing, causing significant impairment.
Who Can Be Held Responsible When A Child Develops Cerebral Palsy?
When a child develops cerebral palsy, determining whether medical negligence played a role is essential. A doctor or care provider may be held responsible for medical malpractice if the condition resulted from:
- Failure to diagnose and treat a maternal infection
- Failure to identify serious conditions like preeclampsia and take appropriate action
- Failure to recognize problems in utero
- Failure to monitor a baby during birth results in deprivation of oxygen to the brain
- Failure to identify conditions like jaundice or infections in infants post birth
- Providing inadequate or inappropriate treatment to the mother and baby when problems arise
It will be critical to determine if a doctor or healthcare provider fell short in providing a professional standard of care. If a reasonably competent doctor with the same training would not have acted, or failed to act, in the way the mother and baby’s doctor did, then that medical care professional could be held legally liable if the failure was the direct cause of the CP.
Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C., has helped many clients whose children were affected by cerebral palsy, and we can obtain your medical records and find experts who can carefully review your case to determine if you have a viable claim for brain injury in Conshohocken.
Getting Help From A Conshohocken Cerebral Palsy Lawyer
Determining if you have a medical malpractice claim can be complicated, as can proving the cause of your child’s CP and the extent of the loss and damage done. Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C., has the experience you need to stand the best chance of recovering compensation for the harm you have endured.
To learn more about how a Conshohocken cerebral palsy lawyer can help you fight for compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other economic and non-financial losses, give us a call or contact us online today.