Brockton Cerebral Palsy Lawyer

There are different types of cerebral palsy. Each category of the palsy is defined based on the symptoms it leads to. Spastic cerebral palsy–the most common type of cerebral palsy–leads to issues with movement. Other types affect balance, coordination, and posture. Severe cases can cause issues with vision, hearing, breathing, intellectual development, eating, nutrition, and acceptance in society. It has no known cure and is a permanent disorder that can drain a family’s financial resources and place a serious amount of strain on your mental and emotional wellbeing. For more information contact Massachusetts cerebral palsy lawyer today.

The one thing that all cases of cerebral palsy have is a motor function disability of some sort. “Cerebral” pertains to the brain, and “palsy” means weakness or paralysis. Cerebral palsy affects the parts of the brain that control movement, and while other illnesses such as those mentioned above can co-occur with it, your child’s doctor will likely focus on the motor issues your child faces while treating him or her, unless the accompanying symptoms are so severe that they warrant further investigation. Call the Birth Injury Lawyers Group at (800) 222-9529 to learn more about managing your child’s case.

Causes and Effects

The symptoms that a patient suffering from cerebral palsy exhibits will depend on where, how, and how badly he or she suffered injuries, damages, or abnormal development of the brain centers responsible for movement. Some patients may be able to walk, run, and jump, albeit with an awkward gait or in an unusual manner. These are examples of symptoms that a person with a mild case of cerebral palsy will exhibit. Moderate cases make it difficult for the affected individual to walk on uneven ground and to cover long distances without hand-held or wheeled mobility devices.

In extreme cases, the patient may be unable to hold his or her head up at all and will not likely be able to care for himself or herself. Such cases require 24/7 monitoring and supervision, sometimes at considerable cost to the family if in-family caretakers are unavailable. Severe cases can also lead to issues with chewing, sucking, or swallowing. This can have a ripple effect if the patient is unable to obtain the nutrients he or she needs to grow. Over time, as a nutrient deficit grows, the patient’s bone density and muscle tone can be affected, leading to frequent bone issues and extreme weakness.

Anything that damages the parts of the brain that control voluntary movement can cause cerebral palsy. It can affect anyone at any age if, for example, they suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI), suffer a slip and fall accident, are involved in a vehicle accident, or are the victim of violence. In babies and infants, however, common causes of cerebral palsy include:

• Genetic disorders
• Abnormal migration of brain cells during gestation
• Delivery room errors
• Umbilical cord issues
• Detached placenta
• High maternal blood pressure
• Intellectual disabilities in the mother are also linked to cerebral palsy in her child
• Nerve damage during delivery or while the fetus is still developing
• Premature deliveries
• Multiple births
• Low birth weight
• Maternal use of narcotics or toxic substances, whether intentional or inadvertent

Proving Negligence

Whether or not negligence was involved in your child’s cerebral palsy diagnosis is one thing. Knowing how and when brain damage occurred is, of course, an important part of the medical investigation and it is critical to know which parts of the brain were damaged and to what extent before any treatments can be initiated. However, proving negligence is entirely something else. Your child’s care team may have harmed your baby but if you cannot prove that they did, you will be unable to file a claim for damages from the party or parties responsible for irreversibly harming your family.

Proving negligence is where an experienced birth injury attorney can help. Establishing a link between the actions–or the inaction, when action is required–on the part of the delivery team to a given injury or symptom is an indispensable part of the medical malpractice claim process. You need to prove that someone did something wrong, something they could have possibly avoided or prevented, but that they did not do so, resulting in the brain damage and the eventual development of cerebral palsy that your child was diagnosed with.

Brockton Cerebral Palsy Lawyer Near Me (800) 222-9529

Let the Birth Injury Lawyers Group Assist You

Proving negligence–if negligence was involved–and connecting a specific instance of doctor error, distraction, or incompetence to a specific instance of brain damage is what we can help you do. We have years of experience handling birth injury cases for families from every walk of life.

We know the types of evidence needed to prove negligence, the kinds of proof that the courts accept and do not accept, the various expenses and losses you may be able to file a claim for, the deadlines you need to meet, and how to handle negotiations with insurers, the at-fault doctors, and the hospital or care clinic where your child was injured to give you the best chance possible of winning any damages or compensation that you may be entitled to.

We will also help you account for all of the losses you were unfairly made to suffer, including:

• Lost income from missing work
• Money paid for treatments, therapy, or surgery
• Medication expenses
• Diagnostic test and screening expenses
• Travel to and from care centers
• Assistive devices such as wheelchairs or canes
• Home improvements to make the home more accessible
• Pain and suffering damages
• Punitive damages, if applicable

If your child has or was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you have several options and must exercise them. Call one of our cerebral palsy lawyer today at (800) 222-9529. We will tell you what you need to know about the type of cerebral palsy your child suffers from, how to file a claim, how we handle those with vested interests in your case such as insurance companies and hospital shareholders, and what to expect and when as your case makes its way through the evaluation, filing, and ruling stages. Call now.