Cerebral palsy is a debilitating neurological disorder that is often associated with births gone wrong. Birth is not always a safe procedure, and infants are sometimes injured as a result of complications. However, cerebral palsy, though frequently thought to be caused by birth injuries, is not fully understood. There may be multiple causes of cerebral palsy, and it can occur under any number of birthing conditions. Identifying the cause of cerebral palsy can be difficult as it is often diagnosed months or even years after birth.
Cerebral palsy is not always a birth injury. Cerebral palsy has been known to be caused in utero, during birth, or even shortly after birth. However, the common thread between all these cases is that cerebral palsy tends to occur in babies sometime around birth. Cerebral palsy could be a congenital condition, meaning it developed in the womb. In other cases, the disorder is caused by external trauma after birth. Cerebral palsy has also been known to result from doctors’ medical negligence.
If your child developed cerebral palsy when they were born, you should speak to a lawyer immediately. it is possible that your child’s condition was caused by the mistakes and negligence of a medical professional when your child was born. Our Baltimore birth injury lawyers are here to help you. Contact our team at Rice, Murtha & Psoras by calling (410) 694-7291. We can arrange a free legal consultation to discuss your case.
What Are Birth Injuries Related to Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that is often diagnosed in babies and newborns. the disorder is marked by numerous physical disabilities and often presents life-long complications. the condition is often associated with a lack of oxygen to the baby during childbirth. However, the condition could also be caused before and after the birth as well.
Congenital cerebral palsy develops while the baby is still in the womb or during birth. However, cerebral palsy may develop several days or weeks after birth in somewhat rarer cases of acquired cerebral palsy. Both conditions could develop as a result of circumstances beyond your control or the control of a doctor. However, these conditions can also develop due to medical negligence.
A variety of factors could cause cerebral palsy. One of the most well-known causes of cerebral palsy is a lack of oxygen during birth. A decrease in oxygen to the baby during birth could be caused by numerous complications, including umbilical cord problems and placenta issues. it only takes a few minutes for brain damage to occur when oxygen is cut off.
Cerebral palsy could also be caused by head or brain trauma after birth. Cerebral palsy that develops later could be caused by things like serious infections or head injuries. If the trauma that caused your child’s cerebral palsy was due to a physician’s negligence, you might have grounds for a lawsuit. Our personal injury attorneys can help.
Medical Negligence and Cerebral Palsy in Newborns
Patients rely on their doctors for medical advice and treatment. When doctors make mistakes, their patients are the ones who suffer. However, not every medical mistake is grounds for a lawsuit. Usually, you must show that your doctor’s actions were not just a bad decision but also a negligent one. A doctor’s negligent actions could have led to the conditions that caused your child’s cerebral palsy.
Your doctor might have committed an act of negligence if they failed to identify and prevent risk factors for cerebral palsy that they reasonably should have spotted. For example, suppose your child’s cerebral palsy was acquired after birth due to a serious infection. In that case, your doctor is responsible for identifying and treating the infection before brain damage sets in. If your doctor failed to identify the infection, misdiagnosed it, or otherwise provided inadequate treatment, you might have grounds to sue.
Medical negligence could also happen before and during the birth of your child. Complications that happen in utero or even during delivery must be appropriately handled by your physician. When a physician fails to prevent or resolve these complications, birth injuries like cerebral palsy could occur. Speak to our birth injury lawyers about the possibility of filing a lawsuit for your child’s injuries.
Suing for Cerebral Palsy as a Birth Injury
Suing for birth injuries like cerebral palsy can be challenging. it is not usual for cerebral palsy to be diagnosed until some time after the birth. Parents often take their newborns home from the hospital having no idea that they were injured. While there are multiple signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy, many do not reveal themselves until months or even years after birth.
This may be especially true for cases of cerebral palsy caused after birth. Cerebral palsy is so often associated with birth that doctors may mistakenly believe you are in the clear when a delivery goes smoothly. If your child develops an infection or experiences a traumatic head injury, your doctor might act negligently and not even suspect cerebral palsy. Instead, they might treat the underlying infection or injury and call it a day.
Filing a lawsuit over cerebral palsy will require some evidence that your physician acted negligently. We will also need evidence of your child’s medical condition and expert testimony about how it was caused. This may require hiring a new doctor as a medical expert, having them review your child’s birth records, and conducting new medical exams.
To discuss the possibility of filing a lawsuit against your child’s physician, call our birth injury lawyers.
Contact Our Birth Injury Attorneys for Help
Our experienced birth injury attorneys can help you prepare your lawsuit and get compensation. Contact our dedicated and compassionate staff at Rice, Murtha & Psoras by calling (410) 694-7291.