Palm Beach County Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Lawyer

Birth injuries can have significant and long-term consequences for your child’s health and future, as well as your own personal health and finances. Cerebral Palsy is a particular birth injury that is often caused by substandard treatment from hospitals and healthcare providers.

When your family has been affected by a birth injury such as cerebral palsy, it is important to have a dedicated and experienced Palm Beach County cerebral palsy birth injury lawyer at your side, who can help you pursue the compensation you need to help care for your child. Work with a capable and compassionate injury attorney that can work towards a positive outcome for you.

What is Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is not a single medical condition, but rather refers to a group of non-progressive motor conditions that generally cause physical disability. Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to one of the number motor control centers in the brain, particularly in a developing brain.

Therefore, cerebral palsy can occur during the course of pregnancy, during childbirth, or after birth, and children can be at risk of developing cerebral palsy until they are approximately three years old.

There are four major classifications of cerebral palsy including spastic cerebral palsy, ataxic cerebral palsy, athetoid or dyskinetic cerebral palsy, and mixed cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is generally characterized by:

• Abnormal muscle tone
• Poor reflexes and coordination
• A lack or stunted motor development
• Joint and bone deformities
• Involuntary muscle spasms
• An uneven and unsteady gait
• Problems balancing

Unfortunately, there is a range of symptoms and effects and children may face impairments ranging from slight to severe and to the extent that coordinated movement may be impossible.

Birth Injuries and Medical Malpractice

Generally, cerebral palsy is caused by damage to one of the motor development centers in the brain. However, there are numerous birth injuries that may cause cerebral palsy including:

• Asphyxia before birth
• Maternal infections
• Breech births
• Bacterial meningitis
• Viral encephalitis
• Trauma sustained either before, during, or after birth

While there are numerous causes of cerebral palsy, many of which cannot be controlled, there are cases where a child develops cerebral palsy due to their doctor’s negligence.

Proving Negligence

Doctors, obstetricians, midwives, nurses, surgeons and NICU staff are all required to meet certain medical standards in an effort to prevent injury or harm to an expecting mother and her baby. Medical professionals are therefore responsible for:

• Testing, screening, detecting, and diagnosing causes and risk factors for birth injuries and cerebral palsy
• Taking preventative action in the event that certain risk factors for cerebral palsy are identified
• Promptly diagnosing brain injuries and cerebral palsy
• Properly managing children who have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy

When a doctor or other medical professional fails to properly care for, identify, treat, and prevent children from developing cerebral palsy, they may be liable for medical malpractice.

A Palm Beach County cerebral palsy birth injury attorney can help determine the cause of a birth injury, and help determine if a doctor or other treating medical professional is responsible for a cerebral palsy birth injury.

Compensation for Birth Injuries

Because cerebral palsy is a group of conditions, children suffering from a cerebral palsy birth injury may have unique challenges and may need individual services and attention that another child may not.

That is why it is important to work closely with an experienced and dedicated Palm Beach County cerebral palsy birth injury lawyer, who will be able to help those families work to recover compensation for:

• Medical costs and expenses
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech-language therapy
• Home healthcare expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of quality of life

How a Palm Beach County Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Attorney

A Palm Beach County cerebral palsy birth injury lawyer is prepared to work closely with you and your family to help determine what your child’s injuries are, and how a medical malpractice lawsuit can help alleviate the financial and emotional burdens that families often face after a cerebral palsy birth injury.