For parents just the possibility that their child has a birth injury – something that may permanently affect him or her – can cause extreme anxiety. If your child has suffered a traumatic brain injury or brain damage before, during or soon after birth because of medical negligence (carelessness), it is important that you make sure your child receives the proper diagnosis.
In the case of cerebral palsy, the road to a diagnosis can be frustrating and complex for parents. Nearly half of all children displaying severe symptoms indicating a birth injury receive a diagnosis within a few months of birth. However, in some cases, the diagnosis may be delayed. This may mean that you cannot get the medical help, therapy and treatment your child needs. Therefore, it is important for parents and caregivers to know this important information.
How to Tell If Your Child Has Cerebral Palsy
According to the Mayo Clinic, cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone or posture. It is caused by the damage that occurs to the developing brain. In general, cerebral palsy causes impaired movement associated with abnormal reflexes, floppiness or rigidity of the limbs and trunk, abnormal posture, involuntary movements, unsteady walking or a combination of these. Children with cerebral palsy have trouble swallowing and have eye muscle imbalance. They also might have reduced range of motion in the joints because of muscle stiffness.
There are a number of factors linked to a cerebral palsy diagnosis including:
Severity: A child who exhibits more severe symptoms is likely to be diagnosed at an earlier age because his or her conditions and challenges will be more obvious.
Type of cerebral palsy: Some types of cerebral palsy are easier to diagnose than others. It might take a specialist to recognize those symptoms and diagnose the specific condition.
Involvement on parents: Doctors often rely on parents to monitor and describe the developments and behaviors their child may exhibit. While parents will be in a position to monitor their children continuously, a doctor’s expertise and knowledge is imperative for an accurate diagnosis. There are often missed developmental milestones such as delays in smiling, rolling over, being able to walk or self-feed.
Types of Evaluations
In order to diagnose cerebral palsy, doctors may conduct other types of assessments including, but not limited to, hearing and vision tests, monitoring speech progression, intellectual development assessments, etc. They may also perform imaging tests to view the brain and assess damage. Some of the common tests utilized to diagnose CP include magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, which is a three-dimensional imaging of the brain that detects abnormalities; a CT scan (computerized tomography), which is an x-ray scan from multiple angles that analyze irregular conditions in the brain such as bleeding or skull fractures; a cranial ultrasound that examines the brain tissue for damage; and an electroencephalogram or EEG, which measures electrical activity in the brain to detect abnormalities in brain function.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
Cerebral palsy is often caused by medical negligence (carelessness) before, during or after birth. For example, a doctor may fail to diagnose an infection in the mother, which may potentially lead to brain damage or cerebral palsy. In some cases, a doctor’s incompetence or negligence (carelessness) may result in brain trauma during birth. If your child has cerebral palsy he or she may be able to receive compensation to help 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 secured a $2,850,000 verdict for Brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) that was reduced by the appeals court to $1,846,000 because the verdict was so large. This was the highest amount upheld by the appellate (appeals) courts for many, many years. In addition we recovered $1,400,000 for a newborn who lost motion in the arm during birth due to doctors applying incorrect force on the baby’s head. Also, 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.
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1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
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