Cerebral Palsy is a disability that can occur during pregnancy, after birth, and in childhood. It is a condition that occurs on a daily basis throughout the United States. What occurs during cerebral palsy is that the receptors and the transmitters of the child’s brain become disrupted. Cerebral Palsy can be caused by a wide range of damages to the brain. These injuries are mostly known to be caused by a medical negligence.
When a medical professional does not delicately handle the child or does not provide the standard of care of high quality, an infant can become seriously injured. Cerebral palsy can exert the following problems:
- The child may develop tightness or muscle spasms
- Seizures
- The body may involuntarily move
- Speech functions, auditory functions, and vision functions become impaired
- Intellectual disability
Four Types of Cerebral Palsy
There are different forms of cerebral palsy. Some affect different areas of the body, and others occur more often. Cerebral palsy is composed of the following four types:
- Ataxic Cerebral Palsy(CP): This type does not occur very often, only in 5 to 10% of cerebral palsy cases. This condition occurs when there is a lack of order and coordination in the body. Children can also display oral and speech problems. The child might have an unsteady walk or a wide one.
- Athetoid/Dyskinetic: This type creates involuntary movements of the body. The child is unable to regulate muscle tone. This condition can affect the tongue, facial muscles, feet, hands, legs, and arms. Can create an excess in saliva, difficulty in speaking, and slow, writhing uncontrolled
- Spastic: This type occurs when there is an excess in muscle tone. Too much muscle tone cause movement to become complex and even impossible to do. It has two categories: (1) Hemiplegia: The body is affected only on one side, and (2) quadriplegia: the whole body is affected. This can cause stiffness, narrowness, and even jerky movements of the muscles.
- Mixed Type: When a child falls into one or more of these types, they are considered to have mixed cerebral palsy. Is a mixture of the three cerebral palsy types above. The most recurrent combination being Spastic and Athetoid.
Suffering at the hands of a brain damage that led to cerebral palsy can be emotionally and financially draining for the infant and family. Contacting a Miami legal practitioner who specializes in cerebral palsy cases caused by medical negligence is the first step in determining whether a medical lawsuit can be filed against the responsible professionals. Percy Martinez Law Firm has been fighting for cerebral palsy victims for over 20 years and understand how tough being in that position is.
When and How Damages Are Caused to the Cerebellum(Brain)
A child’s posture, fine motor skills, and walking ability starts to develop issues when the cerebellum becomes damaged because it is in charge of the body’s coordination and balance. Once these functions become limited, a child will not be able to function normally. The reason why damage to a child’s brain occurs is endless, but the most common being carelessness by a medical employee. Damages to the brain that can occur are the following:
Infections that occur in the brain before birth or after birth
A mother could have existing infections or develop new ones during birth. When she is not properly tested for all kinds of infections or conditions like HIV, the infection can cause damage to the baby’s developing brain. It can stop the development and growth of the child’s This is why it is important that a physician gives a mother all kinds of tests, especially if she is susceptible to a medical condition.
A lack of oxygen to the brain or injury during birth
When a brain stays too much time without oxygen, the tissues will start to deteriorate. Sometimes, the child will not be taken out when they are supposed to or go through a very long labor. Along with a lack of oxygen, being forcefully pulled, getting injured by the vacuum or forceps, or being dropped can also cause a brain injury to the child. These are all occurrences that can make up a medical malpractice lawsuit.
When a severe injury is done to the head of the child in the first years of life
Cerebral Palsy can develop in early childhood when a child receives a traumatic head injury. A child’s brain is still developing even in their toddler Children love to explore and run but this can lead to injuries. If a child gets hit too hard in the head, they can suffer from cerebral palsy as an aftermath. Parents need to be vigilant of their children and ensure their safety.
Cerebral Palsy Data
Cerebral palsy occurs quite frequently. These statistics will show just how common this medical condition is:
- To this day, there are around 764,000 people(adults and kids) with cerebral palsy
- Out of those 764,000, 500,000 of them are below 18-years of age
- Out of 1,000 children, 2 to 3 of them will suffer from cerebral palsy
- Every year, children over 2 and under the age of 5 are diagnosed with cerebral palsy. On average between 1,200 to 1,500 children.
- Every year about 8,000 to 10,000 infants and babies will be diagnosed with this condition.
Cerebral Palsy Case Settlements
Mistake During Delivery
A boy that was left unable to sit up, walk, or talk despite being 4 ½ years old was awarded $14.5 million. Mistakes that were done during the delivery of this boy left him with cerebral palsy. The mother was given Pitocin to produce labor and contractions but the medication caused unsteady breathing patterns between contractions that caused the baby not breathe properly.
Nurses Negligent Acts
A baby girl was left with epilepsy, severe brain injury, and cerebral palsy after the nurse’s actions led to the baby’s prolonged oxygen deprivation. The family was awarded $13.9 million in Georgia.
Delay In Performing Cesarean
In 2012, an 81-minute delay in performing an emergency c-section left a baby boy with severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The family was awarded $78.5 million from this medical negligence.
Reaching Out To a Knowledgable Cerebral Palsy Lawyer Located in Miami
Shouldn’t the best moments in parents life be when they see their child being born? Why should that moment have to be shattered by a doctor’s incompetence? Suffering cerebral palsy because a physician or other medical staff was negligent is not fair to the family and most importantly to the child who will now probably have to live the rest of their lives with a disability. Cerebral palsy can occur later on in childhood by a severe injury to the head, but when it occurs during pregnancy or birth, it is most commonly contributed to a doctor’s negligence.
The family of the child can receive help by a Cerebral Palsy attorney at Percy Martinez law firm during these hard times. They know how to proceed with medical malpractice cases. They bring the victims hope.
RELATED TYPES OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
RELATED SERVICES OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
- Anesthesia Mistakes
- Plastic surgery malpractice
- Erbs Palsy
- Brain Injury
- Nursing Home
- Hospital Negligence
- Emergency Room
- Birth Injury
- Amputation Malpractice
Locations we serve