Vision problems are an issue for a vast majority of children with cerebral palsy.
If you are a parent of a child with cerebral palsy, it is important that you have the information, tools and resources that can provide your child with a happy and functional life as he or she grows older. With proper diagnosis, many of these cerebral palsy vision problems may be treated or at the very least improved to enhance your child’s quality of life. Your New York cerebral palsy lawyer can help you secure the resources you need for your child’s ongoing treatment and care.
Vision problems in children with cerebral palsy occur because of cortical visual impairment, which is caused by damage to the occipital lobe located in the back of the brain. This part of the brain is responsible for receiving and interpreting incoming visual information. When the occipital lobe receives signals from the retina in the eye, it translates that into visual data. The occipital lobe enables a number of functions that are crucial to vision including determining depth, size and distance; identifying colors; mapping out the visual world; moving the eyes; and recognizing faces and objects.
In cerebral palsy patients, such damage to the occipital lobe is commonly caused by birth injuries such as hypoxia or lack of oxygen supply, pressure in the head and brain trauma. Brain damage caused during birth leads to cerebral palsy in many cases that in turn can create vision problems.
There are a number of types of vision disorders that may occur as a result of cerebral palsy including:
Cortical Visual Impairment: This is a type of brain dysfunction rather than a direct problem with the eyes. Those suffering from this condition may experience symptoms such as frequent visual fatigue, abnormal responses to light, unusual eye movement, etc.
Blurred vision: The most common types of vision-related acuity loss are nearsightedness and farsightedness, which are typically treated by prescribing glasses or contact lenses.
Field loss: This refers to a group of dysfunctions in the eye’s field of vision. Examples include visual impairment in the center of the field of vision or loss of peripheral vision.
Amblyopia or lazy eye: In this situation, the eyes have difficulty processing depth of field and one eye is likely to have poorer vision than the other.
These kinds of vision problems pose issues for children because their development of motor skills and their ability to move without significant effort is dependent on how well they can see. When children with cerebral palsy have vision problems, they may be discouraged from moving around, showing curiosity or even from exploring their surroundings. This may hamper developmental milestones such as crawling and walking.
If your child is showing signs of vision problems due to cerebral palsy, it is important to get a prompt diagnosis from an ophthalmologist. Treatment options will likely depend on your child’s specific issues.
As New York personal injury lawyers, we have seen many instances of cerebral palsy that occur due to medical negligence (carelessness) during labor and delivery. It is the responsibility of medical professionals to monitor the condition of the fetus and the mother and make decisions that reduce or eliminate a risky delivery. If your child has cerebral palsy he or she may be able to receive compensation that helps pay for medical expenses, lost income, cost of therapy, future treatments, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
The experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. One of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
We have seen many cases where New York City Health and Hospital Corporation facilities deliver babies who are born with cerebral palsy or brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) stemming from negligence (carelessness) and/or medical malpractice in the labor and delivery etc. of the children.
The following list identifies some of these hospitals (operated by New York City Health and Hospital Corporation):
• Jacobi Hospital aka Bronx Municipal 1400 Pelham Parkway South Bronx, New York 10461 718-918-5000
• Lincoln Hospital 234 East 149th Street Bronx, New York 10451 718-579-5000
• North Central Bronx Hospital 3424 Kossuth Avenue Bronx, New York 10467 718-519-5000
• Coney Island Hospital 2601 Ocean Parkway Brooklyn, New York 11235 718-616-3000
• Kings County Hospital 451 Clarkson Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11203 718-245-3131
• Woodhull Hospital 760 Broadway Brooklyn, New York 11206 718-963-8000
• Bellevue Hospital 462 First Avenue New York, New York 10016 212-562-5555
• Harlem Hospital 506 Lenox Avenue New York, New York 10037 212-939-1000
• Metropolitan Hospital 1901 First Avenue New York, New York 10029 212-423-6262
• Elmhurst Hospital 79-01 Broadway Elmhurst, New York 11373 718-334-4000
• Queens Hospital Center 82-68 164th Street Jamaica, New York 11432 718-883-3000
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury, lead poisoning and medical malpractice including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com