Was your child diagnosed with Erb’s palsy? If yes, you’ve already suffered the shock faced by the families of about two children out of every 1,000 born in the United States each year. Erb’s palsy is a neurological illness that can lead to varying degrees of paralysis, a loss of sensation, and weakness in the arm, parts of the arm, the hands and fingers, or the shoulders. It develops when the brachial plexus, which is a system of nerves in the neck, is damaged or injured in any way, especially by a birth injury.
Erb’s palsy is categorized as either serious or mild based on where and in what manner the nerves in the brachial plexus are damaged. Because these nerves control feeling and various movements in the chest, shoulders, and arms, the presentation of Erb’s palsy varies greatly across different patients. If your child suffered a birth-related injury, contact a Midland Erb’s palsy lawyer for a free, no-obligation case evaluation at (800) 222-9529.
What Is Erb’s Palsy?
There are many ways that the nerves in the brachial plexus can sustain an injury. They can be stretched or pinched or they may tear somewhere along the nerve or even become uprooted from the spine if excessive pressure is applied to the head or the neck of a child. These types of injuries can happen during sports or other physical activities. In adults, they can lead to short-term burning or tingling, but such injuries tend to be minor and clear up quickly.
Brachial plexus injuries in infants and newborns, however, are much more dangerous, especially when it comes to birth injuries. If a baby is born feet-first or bottom-first or if a baby becomes stuck inside the mother, the delivery team may be forced to perform an emergency delivery. Doing so may involve the use of extraction devices, forceps, or the application of pressure on the neck, shoulder, or head of the baby. In doing so, the delivery team may inadvertently twist, pinch, or sever nerves in the baby’s neck.
Other factors may require the performance of emergency procedures such as these. For example, gestational diabetes can lead to a large fetus that becomes stuck in the mother. A petite mother may face similar issues in delivering a baby that is large in proportion to her body size. Inflammation in the baby, infections, blood pressure issues, and even doctor inexperience or avoidable medical errors can also lead to an unintended birth injury.
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Diagnosis of Erb’s Palsy
There are a handful of symptoms that are used to indicate Erb’s palsy. Each symptom on its own is usually not enough to definitively prove brachial plexus damage, but taken holistically, your child’s doctor can pinpoint the sources and causes of nerve damage using your child’s symptoms and the results of tests, all of which can then be used to draw up a care and treatment plan for your child.
Some of these symptoms include:
- A burning sensation or tingling in the arm
- Numbness or weakness in the arm
- Restricted movement in the arm
- Weakness in the arm
- Varying degrees of paralysis in the arm between the hand and shoulder
- Severe pain
A Midland Erb’s palsy lawyer can help you identify where and what kinds of damage your child suffered from during delivery and what kinds of treatment and therapy may be best suited to helping your child first cope with and then recover from his or her injuries and disabilities. Call us at (800) 222-9529 for more details.
Midland Erbs Palsy Lawyer Near Me (800) 222-9529
Erb’s Palsy and Medical Negligence
As outlined above, many different factors come into play that may cause a birth complication or require an emergency delivery during which a baby may suffer an injury. However, for every birth injury case, it is important to ask the following:
- When, where, and why did a birth injury occur?
- To what extent was the brachial plexus damaged? What kind of damage was involved?
- Is there any reason to believe medical errors or negligence was involved?
- Are there treatments available?
- Who will be responsible for paying for treatment?
If a birth injury occurs because a baby presents the wrong way at birth or because the baby was too large to pass into the world unobstructed, then these may seem like reasons beyond the control of any medical caregiver. However, even in these cases and cases in which the use of force is deemed necessary, that still does not completely absolve the medical team of negligence and responsibility for the infant’s injuries.
How is this possible? Well, doctors owe their patients what is known as the duty of care. This means they are expected and required to take every reasonable measure to protect the health and wellbeing of their patients. Failing to do so—whether by not testing or screening the mother for an infection, not identifying sources or causes of fetal distress, or not preparing for the kinds of issues that large fetal size and breech births can cause—can be tantamount to negligence.
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The Benefits of Professional Legal Assistance
If your child’s delivery team did not correctly diagnose a birth complication, did not handle it correctly, or did not have the experience needed to perform important delivery room procedures, they can be held liable for any damages that result. The challenge for you becomes proving that a given instance of negligence caused an injury and that injury resulted in some form of loss to you and your family.
This is where a lawyer can help. At the Birth Injury Lawyers Group, we focus on assisting families with an injured child understand the challenges they are faced with, overcome those challenges, provide their injured child with the care and treatment he or she needs, and seek compensation from the at-fault parties responsible for causing their child’s injuries.
It is absolutely essential that you initiate treatment for your child’s Erb’s palsy immediately because delays of even a few weeks can lead to permanent nerve damage. Our Midland Erb’s palsy lawyer can help you do this, so take the first steps toward rehabilitation by calling us at (800) 222-9529.
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