Cerebral palsy is often the consequence of a serious birth injury and can result in lifelong disabilities. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you may be wondering what your next steps should be and how much your case is worth. Please remember if medical negligence (carelessness) was involved, you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit and seek compensation for your child’s birth injury. An experienced New York cerebral palsy lawyer can help you determine if you have a case.
What is Cerebral Palsy and How Does It Affect Your Child?
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affects a person’s ability to move and
maintain balance and posture. The word “cerebral” refers to the brain and the word “palsy” means weakness or problems using one’s muscles. This is a condition caused by damage to the developing brain, which in turn impairs the function and control of muscles.
The symptoms of cerebral palsy may vary from person to person. For example, a person with severe cerebral palsy may need to use special equipment to be able to walk. In other cases, the victim may not be able to walk at all and need lifelong care. In some children swallowing can be a problem. Some children may suffer seizures. Children with cerebral palsy often have stiff muscles and jerky movements caused by damage to the brain’s motor cortex region. This type of cerebral palsy is known as “spastic cerebral palsy.”
Accurate Diagnosis is Important
Typically, cases of cerebral palsy go undiagnosed immediately after birth. While birth trauma can result in cerebral palsy, symptoms of this condition may not surface until a child is several weeks or months old. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, an experienced birth injury lawyer can help you understand your options and determine whether you have a medical malpractice lawsuit.
If your doctor or members of your care team were negligent (careless) and that caused your child’s cerebral palsy, you may be able to seek compensation for permanent injuries, disabilities, cost of medical care, rehabilitation, etc. Some of the most common causes of cerebral palsy include:
• Oxygen deprivation during the labor and delivery process
• Trauma during labor
• Maternal infections that were not treated in a timely manner
• Prolonged labor
• Improper use of birth assistive devices such as forceps
How is a Cerebral Palsy Settlement Determined?
The value of your cerebral palsy case or settlement depends on the facts of your child’s injury, which may vary depending on how the injury occurred and the extent of injuries, the losses sustained by the plaintiff (victim) as well as the degree of medical negligence (carelessness) involved.
For example, if your child suffered brain injuries as a result of oxygen deprivation during labor, your lawyer can provide evidence that the hospital or medical professionals knew or should have known a Cesarean section was required, but failed to act. There are also cases where the doctor may have failed to monitor the mother and the baby properly or failed to treat an infection that caused the child’s cerebral palsy.
Your birth injury lawyer can help you collect, compile and present crucial medical evidence to establish your case and secure maximum compensation for your child’s injuries and losses. Here are some of the key factors that affect your cerebral palsy settlement:
• Your child’s injuries and treatment
• Your child’s life expectancy and anticipated costs of care
• How your life (as a parent) has been affected
• If you were required to take time off work or quit your job to care for your child
• Permanent injuries
• Disabilities
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
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 and/or medical malpractice 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
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