Baby brain damage, especially when it occurs at birth, can lead to a host of devastating conditions. Among the most severe of them is cerebral palsy.
Brain Damage & Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy causes issues with mobility, learning, hearing and speech, and much more. It’s the result of damage to the developing brain, most-commonly due to the child’s blood supply (and thus, oxygen) being cut off for an extended period of time during labor.
Unfortunately, not every case is fully understood, and the specific injuries that cause cerebral palsy can vary greatly.
Many children who suffer from cerebral palsy have significant learning disabilities. This isn’t always the case, though. Sometimes the children have full mental capacity. Most often, there will be trouble speaking and trouble hearing. Both of these effects can be somewhat mitigated with the help of a good speech therapist. However, some of the parents who have a child who suffers from this injury end up having to provide care for that child’s entire life.
When such an injury is the result of medical malpractice, it might be time for you to consider speaking with an attorney. There are time limits on these cases, which varies by jurisdiction, so be sure to contact a cerebral palsy birth injury attorney sooner rather than later.
What is Negligence?
Negligence isn’t necessarily the same thing as incompetence. You may have had a great delivery team and been at a great hospital, but that hospital and that delivery team had a certain duty to you. If they failed in their duty, they may have committed malpractice.
In some cases, the doctor’s insurance company (or the hospital’s insurance company) may decide to settle out of court. If this is the case, you never have to go inside a courtroom at all: Your lawyer will negotiate and work with you to determine whether or not the settlement offer is acceptable.
When you’re looking around for attorneys, make sure you consider their level of experience in dealing with these cases. It makes a significant difference. Anything involving medicine or medical negligence is a specialty field and you’ll need an attorney who’s able to understand all of the variables involved and to understand how the law applies to your case.