A recent study from the University of Notre Dame has identified a strategy that may support regeneration of nerves affected by brachial plexus palsy or Erb’s palsy. According to a news report, the findings show that there may be a path forward for a full behavioral recovery.
Early on, the study’s model showed that the nerve regeneration process after a brachial plexus injury differed from how these nerves (of the brachial plexus) connect to the peripheral and central nervous systems during early development. Researchers worked to create the development-like process by using a chemotherapy treatment, which helped stabilize the nerves and enter the spinal cord before connecting with specific neurons that provide motor and sensory function to the hands, arms and shoulders.
What is Brachial Plexus Palsy (Erb’s Palsy)?
Brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) occurs when the nerves of the brachial plexus,
which control the muscles of the arm, have been damaged. Nerves are soft, tube-like structures inside the body with many small fibers or filaments that carry signals from the brain to control the muscles. Nerves also carry signals from the skin to the brain, which is how we feel sensations. The nerves of the brachial plexus go out from the spinal cord under the collarbone and into the armpit. From there, they branch out into individual nerves that control the muscles in the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand.
When the nerves of the brachial plexus get damaged, the signals cannot travel normally from the brain to the arm muscles. Some or all of your child’s arm muscles may no longer work. On average, three out of every 1,000 newborns suffer a brachial plexus injury during birth. In the most traumatic cases, even with surgery and physical therapy as an infant, there is no treatment that can guarantee a full recovery.
New Hope for Patients
Brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s Palsy) usually occurs because of a stretch injury to a child’s head, neck and shoulder. This can happen during birth, especially when the birth is difficult or complex. Sometimes a child’s shoulder may get stuck against the mother’s pelvis. This can result in a stretch injury as the child is being delivered.
In the Notre Dame study, which was published in Cell Reports, researchers aimed to identify a process that would allow severed sensory axons or nerve fibers to enter the spinal cord when regenerating after an injury. As medical malpractice lawyers, we hope this new research will help children who have suffered from brachial plexus injuries during birth and are dealing with long-term Erb’s palsy disabilities.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If your child has brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy), he or she may be able to receive compensation that may 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 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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Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uond-nsi011620.php