Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that can affect the motor skills and muscle tone of a person, causing difficulty with movement. While this condition can be the result of brain damage that occurred during fetal development, some cases of cerebral palsy can be caused by brain injury that occurs during birth. If your child has cerebral palsy as the result of negligence on the part of a medical care provider, it's important to take immediate action. Children with cerebral palsy can need extensive medical care that is costly. Filing a claim against the medical provider can help you get compensation that can help pay your child's expenses.
There are three types of cerebral palsy that can cause difficulty in controlling muscle movements. Spastic cerebral palsy causes difficulty in relaxing the muscles, which makes it difficult to move the muscles due to their tightness. This is the most common form of cerebral palsy. Athetoid cerebral palsy can lead to uncontrolled movements because it causes an inability to control muscle movements. Ataxic cerebral palsy can cause tremors or shaky movements because it can lead to trouble with depth perception and maintaining balance. These three types of cerebral palsy can cause mild effects or they may more profoundly affect movement.
While cerebral palsy can be diagnosed shortly after birth, many parents do not realize something is wrong with their children until several months or over a year have passed. Symptoms of cerebral palsy may include lack of facial expressions, lack of response to sounds, inability to life the head, inability to sit up without support or assistance, drooling, muscle tremors, and difficulty in feeding. Parents may notice abnormal behavior or a delay in reaching important developmental milestones. Evaluation by a medical professional is important to determine if your child's developmental delays are due to cerebral palsy or another medical condition.
Medical care providers can contribute to the development of cerebral palsy in several ways. Delivery mistakes can include using faulty fetal monitoring equipment, failing to diagnose fetal distress while a mother is in labor, waiting too long to perform a C section if one is indicated, administering the wrong drug or too much of the right drug, or failing to act in a timely manner. If any of these mistakes have occurred, it is important to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately. The longer you wait to seek out legal assistance, the more opportunity there is for you to forget important details or lose documentation that may be needed to file a claim.
Here at Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik LLP, we understand that having a child with cerebral palsy can be difficult. Medical expenses and physical therapy services can quickly add up and become overwhelming. If your child's condition is the result of a birth injury caused by a medical care provider, we can help you file a claim to seek the compensation you need to cover these expenses. Our caring and compassionate staff members will work with you to determine how to best proceed with filing a cerebral palsy claim.
Cases and Settlements of Note
Medical Malpractice Lawsuits & Settlements
- Badolato v. Rosenberg. The Second Department affirmed the trial court’s denial of summary judgment to chiropractor, holding that a physician retained to perform a physical examination for Workers Compensation or Disability purposes can be held liable for medical malpractice where the physician affirmatively interferes with the patient’s treatment to his detriment.
- Selva v. Lillie. The court affirmed a denial of summary judgment to general practitioner who claimed that her failure to refer a patient suffering neurological disorder that rendered him quadriplegic for specialist consult was not a departure from good medical practice because she did not have the neurological expertise to recognize that the patient was suffering from a systemic neurological disorder rather than a herniated lumbar disc.
- Graham v. Mitchell. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s order granting summary judgment on a catastrophically brain-damaged infant claim and reinstated the plaintiffs’ complaint.
- Raciti v. Sands Point Nursing Home, et al., 54 A.D.3d 1014 (2d Dept’ 2008), reversing dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint by the trial court which abused its discretion in refusing to consider plaintiffs’ opposition and cross motion, delivered late to court due to interruption of transit service in a torrential rainstorm.
- Buckley v. Charles K. Goldner, LLC, Abranham Colton. The firm represented Buckley who was a guest in the building, who leaned against an elevator door, believing it to lead to laundry facilities. The elevator door swung open from below, and Buckley fell down the shaft, breaking part of his spine, tearing his urethra, and dislocating his shoulder. The Verdict of $1.9M was awarded in May 2010.
- Jermaine Rhoden v. NYC Transit Authority et al. The firm represented Rhoden who was bicycling on White Plains Road when he attempted to pass between a parked vehicle and a public bus. Rhoden became wedged between the bus and vehicle, and injured his knee, which required knee surgery to fix. A verdict of $550,000 was awarded in September 2009.
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