Cerebral Palsy: The Facts
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What is Cerebral Palsy?
The term cerebral palsy refers to any one of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early
childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but don’t worsen over time. Even
though cerebral palsy affects muscle movement, it isn’t caused by problems in the muscles or nerves. It is
caused by abnormalities in parts of the brain that control muscle movements. The majority of children with
cerebral palsy are born with it, although it may not be detected until months or years later. The early signs of
cerebral palsy usually appear before a child reaches 3 years of age. The most common are a lack of muscle
coordination when performing voluntary movements (ataxia); stiff or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes
(spasticity); walking with one foot or leg dragging; walking on the toes, a crouched gait, or a “scissored” gait;
and muscle tone that is either too stiff or too floppy. A small number of children have cerebral palsy as the
result of brain damage in the first few months or years of life, brain infections such as bacterial meningitis or
viral encephalitis, or head injury from a motor vehicle accident, a fall, or child abuse.
Is there any treatment?
Cerebral palsy can’t be cured, but treatment will often improve a child's capabilities. Many children go on to
enjoy near-normal adult lives if their disabilities are properly managed. In general, the earlier treatment
begins the better chance children have of overcoming developmental disabilities or learning new ways to
accomplish the tasks that challenge them. Treatment may include physical and occupational therapy,
speech therapy, drugs to control seizures, relax muscle spasms, and alleviate pain; surgery to correct
anatomical abnormalities or release tight muscles; braces and other orthotic devices; wheelchairs and
rolling walkers; and communication aids such as computers with attached voice synthesizers.
What is the prognosis?
Cerebral palsy doesn’t always cause profound disabilities. While one child with severe cerebral palsy might
be unable to walk and need extensive, lifelong care, another with mild cerebral palsy might be only slightly
awkward and require no special assistance. Supportive treatments, medications, and surgery can help many
individuals improve their motor skills and ability to communicate with the world.
What research is being done?
Researchers are investigating the roles of mishaps early in brain development, including genetic defects,
which are sometimes responsible for the brain malformations and abnormalities that result in cerebral
palsy. Scientists are also looking at traumatic events in newborn babies’ brains, such as bleeding, epileptic
seizures, and breathing and circulation problems, which can cause the abnormal release of chemicals that
trigger the kind of damage that causes cerebral palsy. To make sure children are getting the right kinds of
therapies, studies are also being done that evaluate both experimental treatments and treatments already in
use so that physicians and parents have valid information to help them choose the best therapy.
Among the legal cases tackling medical malpractice, cerebral palsy lawsuits are the most common. In a
1993 in a study of medical malpractices, cerebral palsy lawsuits accounted for 60 percent of the total number
of medical malpractice lawsuits in the United States.
The United States is one of the countries that have the most number of cerebral palsy lawsuits. Based on
2002 statistical reports, more than 1,000 medical malpractice payments were made due to obstetrics related
malpractice. A mean payment of almost $500,000 was made for such cases. In terms of actual payment, it
has also been found that there is a median of 5.56 year delay in the issuance of the costs of actual damages.
There may be several allegations associated with cerebral palsy lawsuits. An example is malpractice in the
management of pregnancy that led to further damage to the child who was detected to have cerebral palsy.
Such damages may include excessive blood loss or asphyxia or birth trauma. Another common allegation is
delay or failure to perform Caesarian operation because of wrong medical findings related to cerebral palsy.
Successful cerebral palsy lawsuits usually involve a great deal of payments made by the accused to the
petitioner. In the District of Columbia, the largest medical malpractice related to cerebral palsy cost $24
million. This involves a child who suffered brain damage and cerebral palsy due to the doctor's failure to
respond to an airway obstruction. Another costly case involved $10.8 million paid to the family of a child who
suffered from cerebral palsy and mental retardation because of the doctor's failure to respond to symptoms
of a uterine rupture.
Other successful cases have involved millions of dollars. Other causes are mismanaged labor and delivery
and failure to respond to signs of placental abruption. Meanwhile, there are also lawsuits filed against
medical malpractice lawyers. In one case, a group of lawyers had to pay $2.6 million for failing to get
appropriate medical experts to strengthen the case of mismanaged labor resulting to cerebral palsy.
There are a number of lawyers who specialize in medical malpractices. They can be contacted to assist in
filing cerebral palsy lawsuits. Usually, they offer free initial consultation. Others even offer free online
consultation.
Cerebral palsy is a brain disorder that affects the motor skills of a person. This affliction is usually acquired
before, during, and after birth and will tend to stay for the rest of their life. There are treatments and therapy
available to make cerebral palsy patient’s lives more normal.
Cerebral Palsy can alter the lives of children and their family. If you have a child with Cerebral Palsy, it can
drastically change the way you live your life forever. Most families don’t have the financial capability to cover
the cost of treatment and therapies for their child who has Cerebral Palsy. For this, you can consult a
Cerebral Palsy Attorney to get the compensation you need and in some cases, get you discounts on
medications and treatments in the hospital.
You can join Cerebral Palsy Associations for additional help, but these organizations can only do so much.
They often have so many Cerebral Palsy patients that are in need of financial support that they tend to make
you wait for your turn.
They can investigate if your child has acquired the condition because of mishandling them during birth,
causing brain damage so they can file a lawsuit against the doctor or the hospital. If you want the proper
compensation, you can obtain it by hiring a Cerebral Palsy lawyer.
If you think that there has been birth or delivery mistakes that may have caused the child’s condition, you
should immediately contact a Cerebral Palsy attorney in order to get you the right compensation.
These kinds of lawsuits can really provide you with more than enough money for the treatment and
medication for your child who has Cerebral Palsy.
Another great thing about Cerebral Palsy attorneys is that you won’t have to pay them a dime until they get you
your compensation.
Mishandling a child during birth is a very common cause of Cerebral Palsy. So, you should not erase this on
the list of possible causes and you can really make the doctor or the hospital pay for what they are
responsible for.
You can also hire a Cerebral Palsy Attorney to let the hospital give you a cheaper treatment fee for your child.
This can really benefit you because Cerebral Palsy therapy is often a long term therapy and can really cost a
lot of money.
Always remember that Cerebral Palsy treatment can be expensive. You can always seek help from Cerebral
Palsy attorneys to get you the proper compensation and also get you a cheap treatment for your child with
Cerebral Palsy.
