A Birth Injury Attorney To Fight Cerebral Palsy
May 2nd 2009Guest AuthorBabies
Most of us are familiar with the presentation of cerebral palsy. Many CP suffers are intelligent, capable people who nonetheless are afflicted with uncontrolled muscle movement. Because 80% of cerebral palsy cases are the result of injures to the developing brain during pregnancy or birth, you should engage a birth injury attorney if your child has cerebral palsy. The birth injury attorney is familiar with the condition from a medical point of view and with the legal issues regarding medical malpractice during pregnancy and birth. Care of a person with CP is enormously expensive and a successful suit for malpractice is among your best hopes for fiancial assistance.
Your birth injury lawyer will explain to you that damage to the motor control areas of the developing brain is the cause of cerebral palsy. While it is true that recent research indicates the brain does not completely finish development until the early twenties, the motor control areas mature by the age of four. 75% of CP cases are the result of damage suffered inutero, 5% during birth and 15% after birth but before the child's 4th birthday.
Cerebral palsy is permanent. There is no cure. The condition can only be managed, and management includes ongoing physical therapy and likely medical interventions. Other possible complications include the aforementioned epilepsy as well as cognition and communication problems and behavioral disorders. These are sometimes alleviated with therapy aimed at increasing communications skills.
For all the reasons outlined above, you must retain the services of a birth injury attorney to obtain whatever the courts will allow by way of damages caused by medical malpractice. Damage to the cerebrum can be caused by non-standard medical care during pregnancy or during birth: applying too much force when using forceps, for example. Cerebral palsy has no cure. Physical and drug therapy can help ameliorate additional problems and complications arising from the condition.
The financial cost of care and lost income in caring for a person with mild CP over the course of their lifetime is nearly $1,000,000, according to a study done in 2003. For severe cases, that figure can triple.
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