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Ashcraft & Gerel
LLP
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Cerebral palsy is a permanent and irreversible crippling condition affecting the brain and the central nervous system of an infant or a young child. Cerebral Palsy can be caused by various means. Some of the more common causes of cerebral palsy are listed below. They include those that occur during the pregnancy, those occurring during the process of birth and those occurring during the newborn period.
Possible causes of cerebral palsy during the pregnancy:
specific types of infections occurring for the first
time during pregnancy can cause cerebral palsy. These include toxoplasmosis, rubella,
cytomegallovirus (CMV), herpes simplex, untreated group B
strep,
placental abnormalities including placental
insufficiency or premature aging of the placenta during the
pregnancy, premature or sudden separation of the placenta from
the wall of the uterus (placental abruption), intrauterine
growth retardation (IUGR) of the fetus are all causes of cerebal palsy,
severe malnutrition of the mother, frequent use
of certain types of prescription, nonprescription or illegal
drugs, frequent use of alcohol by mother during pregnancy,
exposure to certain types of toxic chemicals or other harmful
environmental hazards can all cause cerebral palsy,
mother's untreated high blood pressure,
preeclampsia, eclampsia, toxemia, diabetes, problems with her
thyroid or other conditions can cause cerebal palsy.
effects of certain types of genetic defects or
syndromes are also causes of cerebral palsy.
Possible causes of cerebral palsy during the birth process:
untreated umbilical cord compression, prolapse or
occlusion, unrecognized or untreated signs of fetal
distress from pressure on the umbilical cord or due to
dystocia, the baby being stuck in the birth canal because of
its size or the position of its descent down the birth canal,
placenta being prematurely sheared by the birth process--
placenta previa or placental abruption, are all possible causes of cerebal palsy
during the birth process.
Possible causes of cerebral palsy during the newborn period:
complications of severe prematurity, including
problems with the heart, blood pressure, circulation,
breathing, meconium aspiration, nutrition, hydration,
temperature, infection, jaundice, bleeding, hereditary
conditions which interfere with the baby's digestion,
untreated seizures.
These are just a few of the more common causes of cerebral palsy. There are numerous others.
The mechanisms of brain injury / cerebral palsy:
How is it that these conditions cause cerebral palsy to occur in some infants and not in others? Each of the causes noted above has the potential to interfere with proper development of the nervous system or potential to interfere with the delivery of oxygen and nutrition to the brain of the fetus or the newborn infant.
When the delivery of oxygen and nutrition to the brain is interrupted or severely impeded or decreased for a period of time, the brain becomes injured.
Depending on the location and the extent of the brain damage resulting from birth injury, the brain damaged infant may begin to show signs of delayed development, abnormal activity, increased tone, spasticity, seizures, bleeding in the brain, paralysis of the extremities -- quadriplegia or diplegia, hypotonia – flaccidity in the trunk, mental retardation and other signs of defects in physical and mental functioning.
Who is responsible for cerebral palsy?
All parents of children with cerebral palsy want to know, what happened to their child to cause the crippling condition, whether cerebral palsy could have been avoided, and if an attorney should be consulted about any possible malpractice that caused the brain injury.
The truth is, at times cerebral palsy occurs even with the best possible medical care, and there is nothing that should have or could have been done by the health care providers to avoid cerebral palsy.
But there are many other cases in which cerebral palsy could have been prevented altogether or the brain damage may have been made considerably less severe if timely and appropriate intervention by the health care providers had occurred.
The only way to determine whether the brain injury or cerebal palsy was avoidable and whether a law suit should be filed is for an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to have the prenatal, delivery and newborn medical care record reviewed by appropriately credentialed professionals who understand the complex physiological relationship between the mother and the fetus during gestation, the stresses that the infant undergoes during the process of birth, the mechanisms it uses to cope with those stresses, the process of adjustment of the newborn to life outside the womb, and its requirements and responses to certain types of stresses and factors in its environment. Lawyers who handle these claims are familiar with the issues that will arise in a law suit and know how to seek review by an appropriate expert.
Many physicians have taken the position that cerebral palsy is not and cannot be caused by doctors and that it is virtually always caused by factors beyond the doctor's control, long before the baby is born. This view, while not supported by the credible research or literature, is nevertheless surprisingly common among certain physicians and nursing practitioners.
To get a fair review of the probable causes of your child's cerebral palsy brain injury, it is very important for the lawyer representing you to make sure that the professionals who review your case are free of such biases. One way you can ensure that your case is going to be thoroughly and fairly reviewed for technical medical and legal merit, is to hire an attorney who spends much of his or her professional time pursuing law suits for clients suffering from cerebral palsy or brain damage associated with the period surrounding the delivery.
ASHCRAFT & GEREL
Ashcraft & Gerel's lawyers have represented victims of cerebral palsy in numerous states throughout the nation. The law firm is proud to say that in law suits alleging medical malpractice our attorneys have achieved occasional eight figure ($10 million or higher) awards, verdicts, settlements or other recoveries and numerous seven figure (between $1 million and $10 million) awards, verdicts, settlements or other recoveries for our clients. Not every claim our attorneys review turns out to involve a strong case of medical malpractice for which we'd want to file a law suit, but the vast majority of the cerebral palsy cases that our attorneys prepare and on which they file suit result in an award, settlement, verdict or other recovery for the injured child. Not all lawyers can offer this high level of success and experience, and not every medical malpractice attorney has had experience handling many cases involving babies who have become brain damaged at birth.
The costs of daily living and the required care, therapies, and equipment over the lifetime of a child afflicted with severe cerebral palsy total millions of dollars. The typical costs of care after the child reaches the age of 21 usually amount to between $110,000 and $200,000 per year depending on where you live. This does not take into account the damages for loss of earnings and the never ending pain, suffering and humiliation which the cerebral palsy victim has to endure throughout his or her lifetime.
If you have questions or if you wish to discuss your child's, friend's or relative's possible cerebral palsy case with an experienced cerebral palsy attorney, you may telephone us at the office. Although our offices are located in Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA) or the District of Columbia (DC), we handle cases all over the country. The telephone numbers of our offices in Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA) or the District of Columbia (D.C.) can be located by returning to our Homepage and clicking on the particular office that you wish to call. If you are outside Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA) or the District of Columbia (DC) or the particular office is not important to you, please call Robert G. Samet at 301-770-3737 or toll free 1-800-829-7037. Alternatively, please feel free to email us, or complete our Help Inquiry Form, and we will contact you promptly. The initial consultation with a lawyer is free of charge, and if the attorney agrees to review your case, we will work on a contingent fee basis, which means our law firm gets paid for our services only if our lawyer is able to bring about an award, settlement or recovery of funds.
The highly specialized care, therapy, and the challenges of raising a child with cerebral palsy involve very substantial expenditures of money, and require an understanding of the condition, its limitations and demands, and love, patience, indulgence and perseverance on the part of the parents and all other members of the immediate family. Let our law firm help you to determine whether your child and you may be entitled to file suit for monetary compensation for the brain injuries of cerebral palsy.
