Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

Earlier this week Drug Delivery News explained how new “nano treatments” might be able to help prevent children from developing cerebral palsy. Nanomedicine refers to use of nanotechnogy in medicine, which involves manipulation of very small material on the atomic and molecular level. It very much represents the cutting edge of medical research and treatment. Nanmomedicine can involve a range of treatment tools, from using nanoelectronic biosensors or implantation of various nanmaterials into the body.

In this case, the article suggests potential prevention of cerebral palsy using this tools that were uncovered by researchers with the National Institute of Health and at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. The researchers believe that using new nanodevices to deliver medication to brain injured children might prevent spreading brain damage that often results in cerebral palsy. We touched on the ideas discovered in a previous post.

Essentially, the treatment involves using very small devices to cross the blood-brain barrier and deliver medication to injured parts of an infant’s brain. The pinpointing of the drugs can prevent brain inflammation that lead to CP. Early research using this approach on animals has indicated good results.

The treatment method uses tiny devices called dendrimers with a special drug (D-NAC). The small nanodevices are inserted into the child’s brain and guided so that they cross the blood-brain barrier. Once across the barrier and guided to the injured area, the devices release the drug.

What was the effect?

When used on newborn rabbits whose brains exhibited damage consisted with that seen in newborn infants who develop cerebral palsy, the drugs were very successful at preventing long-term harm. Those rabbits who received D-NAC showed mobility improvement the very same day that they received the drug treatment. They appeared nearly back to normal five days after the initial treatment. Compared to the placebo groups, these results were remarkable. Rabbits that did not receive the drug were essentially left with severe cerebral palsy-like symptoms.

Researchers explain that perhaps the most important finding here is that some postnatal treatment might work. In the past all of the work to prevent CP dealt with avoiding developmental problems or birth injuries which would lead to the brain damage. However, this research suggests that even if the damage develops, there may be some options for medical professionals to intervene even after the birth to prevent the long-term harm.

Each Chicago cerebral palsy lawyers at our firm is very familiar with all of the issues affecting children with cerebral palsy. We understand that an early reaction is always concern about the overall effect that the condition will have on the youngster’s overall health. Families then try to learn as much as they can about what physical and developmental challenges will be faced and what can be done to ensure the child reaches their full potential. Unfortunately, financial concerns often enter the mix, because it is not easy to obtain the resources necessary to ensure a child with one of these conditions will receive all of the care they need to maximize their potential. Illinois cerebral palsy lawsuits often help families receive support for those that caused the injury.

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Family of Injured Boy Seeks Approval of $30M Award in Birth Injury Lawsuit

Doctor’s Failure to Treat Jaundice Causes Baby to Suffer Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury

The Associated Press reported last week on a new study that some suggest might lead to a breakthrough in cerebral palsy treatment. As our Chicago cerebral palsy lawyers are aware, many local families keep a close eye on all medical developments that may offer hope for improved mobility and functioning in their youngsters. Cerebral palsy represents a range of conditions, and so many new treatments may affect only some of those affected by these conditions.

The study was conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Perinatology Research Branch. The results appear in the latest issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine. According to the latest story, medical researchers have revealed that a new treatment in rabbits born with cerebral palsy allowed many of them to regain nearly normal mobility. The treatment at issue is an effort in the field known as “nanomedicine.” It works by delivering a drug directly into the damaged part of the injured brain. Delivering the medicine to the desired location is not easy. In this case it is done along “tree-like” molecules called dendrimers.

While complex, the process has shown to have remarkable results for the rabbits in the study. Amazingly, the effects in the rabbits were seen as early as a few days after the drug treatment. Specifically, when given the treatment less than six hours after their birth, within five days the rabbits showed “dramatic improvement in motor function” according to the report released on the study. Essentially, rabbits that were immobile due to their brain injury were essentially moving around as if they did not have an injury by the time they were five days old.

The drug itself is known as N-acetly-L-cystine (NAC) and was given to the rabbits in ten small doses. Researchers believe that it was successful in large part because it was able to cross the “blood-brain” barrier and effectively shut down brain inflammation.

It will be years before this sort of technology might be used on humans. However, experts are still hailing the research because it offers vindication of the idea that early intervention might be able to actually reverse brain damage. The idea is that there is a window in time after a birth where the location of inflammation can be identified and treated to prevent cerebral palsy from developing.

Each Illinois cerebral palsy lawyer at our firm remains excited by the possibilities for treatment that medical researchers continue to discover. The incurable problems faced by so many families who have children born with this conduction are daunting. We have helped many local families file birth injury lawsuits when the condition was caused by misconduct by medical professionals during the birth. The lawsuits often provide resources so families can ensure that their loved on receives the care they need to life as normal a life as possible. However, we appreciate that all families would obviously prefer that their child not have to deal with these challenges at all. All new research developments that might offer some relief to some cerebral palsy complications should be fully explored.

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Birth Accident Lawsuit Reveals Extreme Emotional Pain Associated with Loss

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

Over the past few months our Illinois birth injury lawyers have followed the case out of Florida of a boy’s struggle to receive the damages he was awarded in a birth injury lawsuit. The child has cerebral palsy. Several years ago his mother filed a lawsuit against the hospital that provided care during her labor. She argued that the care provided was below reasonable standards and, as a result, her son suffered the permanent birth injuries. The jury in the case agreed with the mother, and the family was awarded $30 million for the extended care that the boy will need throughout his life as a result of the injuries that he suffered.

However, the family did not immediately receive the funds which a jury deemed them entitled. That is because the hospital that committed the negligence was a publically run facility. The laws of sovereign immunity in the state generally shield public institutions from liability under most circumstances. Therefore, in this case, recovering any damages required a special law to be passed specifically authorizing payment of the damage amount. As one might expect, getting a law passed requiring a public entity to pay for the consequences of its damages was no easy feat. It took several years of work. Fortunately, the claims bill was passed this year for a compromise amount of $15 million.

However, as a new story reported in the News-Press this weekend explains, hospital officials have already been discussing whether to change from an institution with a “public” status to a private one. Leaders of the institutional have expressed worry that this one claims bill passage suggests that their sovereign immunity status might be less potent, making the benefit of being classified as a public institution less apparent. As always happens when big interests lose arguments seeking to shield themselves from liability for the harm they cause, facility lobbyists have claimed that passage of the claims bill may lead to a flood of similar lawsuits. This is akin to claims of “doom and gloom” that are often made when tort reform laws are struck down.

Our Chicago birth injury lawyers realize that it is important to keep all of this into perspective. In this case, the hospital will only be required to pay for the consequences of its actions that have resulted in a boy (now 14-years old) to be permanently disabled for the rest of his life. Even then, it took the family years of legal fighting just to get a compromise bill passed. There was nothing easy about the process that would lead to a sudden surge in birth injury lawsuits.

Also, what must not be forgotten is who pays for the consequences of the birth injury if not the hospital. If the family is not allowed to receive a judgment awarded by the jury, then it is the taxpayers who are ultimately responsible for providing aid to help deal with the error anyway. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, disability, and other support payments would fall to ordinary taxpayers in the absence of accountability via the justice system. At the end of the day, for all of the dire predictions when accountability is had, fairness usually reigns when a negligent facility or individual is required to pay for the consequences of their actions.

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Claims Bill for Medical Malpractice Victim is Passed

Medical Malpractice “Claims Bill” Ends with Settlement

Constitutional challenges are usually the legal actions that garner the most media attention. One need only turn on any news channel this week, for example, to hear extended talk about the U.S. Supreme Court hearings on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The fascination with constitutional challenges is not surprising because, unlike regular civil actions, the outcomes will usually affect all community members—not just the individual parties in the individual suit.

Constitutional cases essentially always involve conduct by the government. After all, the constitution only binds public entities, not private citizens. In many cases, these legal suits challenge laws passed by legislators. The challenges can be made at the federal level (like the one directed at Obamacare) or at the state level. Our Illinois birth injury lawyers know that when it comes to state constitutions, perhaps no constitutional challenges have garnered more attention than those directed at state tort reform laws.

In Illinois, our state legislator passed a law in 2005 that placed an arbitrary cap on non-economic damages that Illinois medical malpractice plaintiffs could receive, regardless of the jury determination. In 2010, a legal challenge of that law reached the Illinois Supreme Court. At that time the court found the law unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers clause in the state constitution.

Many community members are unfamiliar with the mechanics of these constitutional challenges. With some variations, in most cases there are specific requirements that have to be met before a challenge to the law can even be brought forward. For one thing, not just anyone can constitutionally challenge any law that they do not like. Instead, a plaintiff must have “standing.” In general, this requires that the plaintiff actually be affected by the law in question.

This principle is perhaps best explained by considering a current challenge to a state’s damage cap law. As reported in the News-Leader, this week the Missouri Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to a law in the state that caps the amount of money that plaintiffs in medical malpractice lawsuits can recover. The challenge is not being made in a vacuum, however, but is instead filed by a family who had previously won a birth injury lawsuit.

In the suit, the family alleged that the medical team involved in the birth of their son failed to notice that he was in fetal distress. As a result of their mistakes, the boy suffered permanent and severe injuries. He has cerebral palsy, cannot walk, and will he need very close care throughout his life. The jury in the case agreed that the child’s injuries were caused by negligence. They awarded the family $1.45 million in non-economic damages. However, because of the cap law, the family will receive less than ¼ of that actual non-economic damage award.

Following the imposition of the law in their specific case, the plaintiffs appealed and filed the constitutional challenge to the law, arguing that it violated the right to a jury trial guaranteed by the Missouri constitution. Had the family not first won a verdict and had the award cut by the law, then they likely would not have had standing to challenge the ruling.

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It Remains Difficult For Some Victims to Receive Compensation For Their Harm

Respected National Think Tank Criticizes Damage Caps

A heartbreaking article in the New Jersey News this week shares one family’s unique story of living with and losing a loved one who suffered from a rare birth defect. Our Chicago birth injury lawyers appreciate that the experiences and emotions revealed by the family in this story are shared by many families in our area who have gone through or are going through similar situations. The story reveals the immense uncertainty that faces many of these families as their child grows up.

The family in this case gave birth to their last child, Jane, in the early summer of 1963. At first there seemed to be absolutely nothing wrong, and the family was informed that they had delivered a healthy child without any birthing complications. However, when the girl was four months old she began having random choking episodes. The family’s pediatrician ignored the family when they first revealed their concerns, claiming that the choking fits were natural. It wasn’t until one of the choking episodes almost killed the baby that she was actually admitted into the hospital. Two days later medical personnel performed a “vascular ring” surgery to correct an esophagus problem that was apparently caused the choking. The girl came through it fine and the family was told that everything should work out from that point forward.

However, the girl exhibited odd behavior at two years old, and so the family went back to the hospital. Eventually, a neurological workup was performed where the doctors notice oxygen loss to the brain associated with the thoracic surgery. At that point the girl was diagnosed as suffering from cerebral palsy.

Things still didn’t seem right by the time the girl was 13 years old. She was quite short and showed no signs of going through puberty. It was only then that a chromosomal test was performed. The test revealed that the girl had a form of Turner Syndrome (TS). This occurs when a child does not have 46 chromosomes and two corresponding XX or XY chromosomes. In her case, 10% of her cells had only 45 chromosomes and one X chromosome.

The family learned that hormone therapy could do a lot to help those who suffered from TS. However, for various reasons her doctors did not want Jane to receive the treatment. Even after the family received clear advice from leaders in the TS field about the benefit of the therapies, Jane’s doctors demurred. It was only when the family took the doctor to a separate endocrinologist (away from the general practitioner at the facility where she lived) that she began received hormone therapy. She was 37 years old at the time. Unfortunately, because the treatment was given so late, she developed various complications that impacted her quality of life—such as osteoporosis and resulting bone fractures. Jane died last August at the age of 48.

Many families who have children with special need face this roller coaster experience of uncertainty that often lasts for years. The Chicago birth injury lawyers appreciate the immense toll that these sorts of challenges have on area community members. Sometimes there is nothing that can be done. But in other situations, proper treatment is withheld or delayed unnecessarily. That should never happen. It is important for family members to remain vigilant about the care their loved one receives to ensure it meets all applicable standards.

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Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

Precision is paramount in legal arguments. For example, when our Illinois birth injury attorneys are writing a complaint which initiates a lawsuit or making a closing argument in front of a jury, we are very clear about how a certain course of conduct by a medical professional led to a certain injury suffered by a child or mother. These claims are made based on evidence of what happened in the situation and medical knowledge from experts on the consequences of those actions. Living in the legal world of very specific, definitive, and clear arguments sometimes imparts the impression that every medical condition or outcome can be explained in every case.

That is not always true.

Each Chicago birth injury attorney at our firm appreciates that there is still much that the entire medical community does not know about how certain injuries arise or even what certain injuries are. The medical community has made enormous strides in the last century to identify harms and to prevent them. Patients can rightly expect that those understandings will be applied in their case to prevent harm where possible. Failure to do so is medical malpractice and perhaps necessitates a birth injury lawsuit. However, there remain many medical mysteries than cannot yet be understood.

A story in the Huffington Post this week delves into one of those mysterious cases. Nine-year old Jason Egan suffered from some sort of developmental problem that is baffling researchers and medical experts. At first the child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Like many children with CP, the Jason cannot walk or talk. Considering that cerebral palsy is an umbrella term that refers to a range of movement disorders, Jason’s developmental problems at first seemed consistent with a child who had cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is not a progressive condition. That means that the problems facing the sufferer will not be worse over time but will instead remain constant over a lifetime.

That is where Jason’s condition differs. The boy’s condition continues to change over time. Brain scans of the child at the time he was six first suggested that something was unique in his case. Amazingly, the doctors discovered that the child’s brain at the time of the scan at six years old was much smaller than similar scans taken on him earlier in his life. The shrinking brain indicated that cerebral palsy was a misdiagnosis. To pinpoint exactly what was going on, doctors conducted tests for various neurological disorders. What they found, essentially, was nothing. The boy did not seem to be suffering from any condition that was known to affect the brain.

The doctor summarized by noting that “there is not one test he hasn’t had done. He doesn’t qualify for cerebral palsy, because the disease is progressing. The bottom line is, I don’t know yet and I hope we will figure out what’s happening to him.”

In a bit of good news, Jason’s latest brain scan shows that the shrinking may have stopped. His brain is the same size now as it was one year ago. While this is a relief for the family, it doesn’t help in figuring out what the problem actually is. Researchers are now looking at the child’s DNA to determine if there are any mutations which might explain what is going on. Depending on what is found, it may ultimately prove incredibly helpful in scientists’ efforts to understand how each gene interacts in the body.

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Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

A family recently filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against various care providers who, they claim, acted negligently leading to permanent, severe debilitating injuries for the child. A report this weekend in the Morning Sun explains that the lawsuit was filed two years after the birth. The mother in the case noted that she did not have any known complications during her pregnancy. Everything seemed t be going according to plan when she went in at 38 weeks to have the pregnancy induced. The induction was known ahead of time, and so there were no emergency circumstances at the outset.

As in many of these cases, a fetal heart monitor was used during the birth to ensure that the child’s heart rate was at safe levels throughout. Having one of these monitors is one thing but properly using them is another. In the complaint filed by the family’s medical malpractice lawyer that initiated this suit, the family claims that the fetal heart monitor was not analyzed properly in this case. As a result, the child ultimately went more than 40 minutes with a dangerously low heart rate. This meant that the child’s blood was not flowing properly through his body. Poor blood flow to the brain is one of the main causes of brain damage.

When the medical team finally noticed that the child was in distress, they attempted to remove the child from the womb. A vacuum extraction birth was attempted, but it was unsuccessful. A C-section was then performed. The child was in obvious distress as soon as he left the womb. He was ultimately forced to spend twenty three days in a hospital before his condition was stable enough to warrant his release. Though he survived, it was not without long-term consequences. At age one he was diagnosed with a rare form of cerebral palsy. The full extent of the harm caused by the birth injury will not be known until he develops even more.

If your child was injured during birth in our area it is important to seek out the help of an experienced Illinois birth injury lawyer. Unlike many other personal injury cases, there are unique time limit rules that apply to these cases. In typical injury cases, to hold a negligent party accountable, a plaintiff must file suit within two years of the date of the injury. However, that is not necessarily true in the context of birth injuries.

For one thing, there are times when it is unclear if a child has actually been injured at all in the immediate aftermath of a birth. For example, sometimes cerebral palsy is not diagnosed until a child is a few years old. It would be a mistake of justice for families not to be able to hold medical providers accountable for causing the injury because it was not (and should not) have been discovered sooner. Instead, many birth injury cases can be brought, depending on the circumstances many years after the birth—often up to the time that the child turns eighteen years old. That is not to say that it is advisable to wait to seek out legal help in these situations. Our Chicago birth injury lawyers often explain how tracking down medical records, witnesses, and other evidence in the case is made more difficult the older the claim. Yet, the rules do mean that concerns about the length of time after a birth should not necessarily preclude families from exploring their legal options even years later.

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Family of Injured Boy Seeks Approval of $30M Award in Birth Injury Lawsuit

New Test to Detect Heart Defect Birth Injuries

Advances in surgical options for those with certain birth injuries—including cerebral palsy—has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of those living with these disabilities. Blog readers have likely been following along as new research continues to pour out which offers hope to both prevent certain birth injuries as well as to correct problems affecting sufferers after the fact. From stem cell research treatments to new bone and muscle surgeries, our Illinois cerebral palsy attorneys appreciate that there is much to be excited about in this area.

For example, CBS Local reported this week on one boy with cerebral palsy who traveled all the way from Ecuador to have a novel surgery performed to help correct bone problems. The surgery is not available in his home country, but the potential benefits were so important that the family decided to travel several thousand miles to have the operation done here. This is a similar story shared by many foreign visitors who travel here to have still-novel medical procedures performed on injured loved ones.

This particular boy had always had immense trouble walking as a result of bone problems stemming from his cerebral palsy birth injury. His knees were bent inward, making it impossible for him to stand straight up. He was forced to drag his feet as he walked and could not do it without the aid of a walker. The boy’ s doctor noted that he was forced to use four times as much energy as a normal child to walk. To correct the problem, he traveled to the U.S. for corrective surgery that involved repairs on ten different bones. The single, multilevel surgery realigned the bones as well as several joints. In addition, the child’s knees were straightened and his feet were realigned. As a result, the boy is able to walk straight and upright.

Stories like this one are incredibly heartwarming and a testament to the amazing work of so many excellent medical practitioners and researchers in our area. However, it remains true that some who suffer from cerebral palsy and other conditions are not so lucky to be able to have access to the medical procedures and day-to-day resources that might make their lives better. Instead, many are forced to get by on the bare minimum, limited by their access to financial resources that provide the best medical care, equipment, therapy and the like. Each Illinois cerebral palsy attorney at our firm believes this is unacceptable, especially in situations where the underlying medical condition itself was caused by the misconduct of a third party.

When a mother and child do not receive a level of medical care that the law demands at birth, leading to preventable birth injuries, it is clear that the negligent staff must play a role in providing redress and accounting for the error. This usually takes the form of a birth injury lawsuit, where the family is represented by a lawyer who works with the representatives from the hospital to seek accountability and provide redress in the form of financial resources so that the injured child has access all the care needed to account for his or her special needs throughout their lives.

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Understanding Cerebral Palsy

Birth Injuries Often Have Lifelong Consequences

HTR News reported earlier this week on a successful telethon to raise money for those with cerebral palsy. The fundraiser was set to support the national advocacy group, Cerebral Palsy, Inc. A two-day television show and drive was conducted over the weekend. The results were quite impressive, with over $1.2 million being raised in just those pair of days. The haul was more than double the amount raised in a similar telethon last year.

According to the story, the organization plans to use the funds to cover operating expenses at a local cerebral palsy center. The center provides a range of services for residents throughout the community—geared toward adults with cerebral palsy and similar special needs. Every year the center reportedly helps over 1,200 families with therapy and outreach programs. Thanking all those who contributed to the effort, the spokeswoman for the facility noted, “Our goal was just to be able to raise the money to continue providing the quality services we provide. We just really can’t express our appreciation enough.”

All told thousands of individual community members phoned in during the telecast to pledge money. The event also included dozens of volunteers who hosted the event and provided entertainment as part of the non-stop two day presentation.

The fact of the matter is that ensuring children with these birth injuries reach their full potential requires considerable resources over the course of a lifetime. Our Illinois cerebral palsy lawyers fully appreciate this challenge. Of course, the efforts of groups like the one described here to help those facing the condition are incredibly important and heartwarming. These efforts truly change lives and their work should be promoted and support. The majority of families who have children with cerebral palsy do not have the resources on their own to provide all of the assistance necessary to ensure that their child has access to the support services they need.

However, in the cases where the cerebral palsy is caused by the misconduct on the part of others—usually negligent medical professionals—it is logical for the wrongdoers to contribute to the costs of supporting the child’s special needs. That is the purpose of each Illinois cerebral palsy lawsuit that we file.

There is tendency to claim that these suits are somehow unfair or a “money-grab.” This view is misguided. In fact, taxpayers as a whole have a lot to gain by ensuring that wrongdoers pay for the consequences of their actions—instead of the public at large. In many instances, when negligent doctors and hospitals are required to support those who are harmed by their unreasonableness, the taxpayers save money that otherwise would have been paid by the public. As a community, we do not let those with special needs languish without care if they are unable to pay for the basic services they need to get by each day. Instead, government funds from various sources are needed to provide basic support. Birth injury lawsuits, like all those seeking hold negligent parties accountable, are premised on the simple idea of responsibility and fairness.

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Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

The Chicago cerebral palsy lawyers at our firm help families with loved ones with CP in a variety of contexts. For one thing, we work with those whose children developed cerebral palsy as a result of inadequate care during their birth by medical professionals. The condition can arise in a wide range of ways—some preventable, some not. However, in many cases things like oxygen deprivation during birth play a key role. That oxygen deprivation can often be stopped if medical providers act quickly in response to certain signs of fetal distress.

Our Illinois cerebral palsy attorneys help families in other ways. For example, we help those who have received inadequate care at public or private institutions where some individuals with conditions like cerebral palsy live. Blog readers, for instance, are likely aware of the poor conditions of some homes in our area where children with developmental disabilities like cerebral palsy live. Over the years many of these children have died in preventable ways because the care they received at these institutions was far from adequate. The law allows family members in these situations to hold the facility accountable for its conduct.

Recently, WSBTV published a story on yet another context where the death of a child with cerebral palsy has legal ramifications. A cerebral palsy lawsuit has been filed by a father who claims that his son with special-needs was killed because of improper restraints used by those at his school. The son was 18-years old at the time of his death. He suffered from muscular dystrophy as well as cerebral palsy and was unable to walk or speak.

The tragedy struck when the teen had an “improvised restraint” placed around his neck by a special-needs teacher while he was in class. The injury attorney hired by the family explained that the teacher “fastened this neck brace not for any medical reason, but to force his neck in a position to look at her.” Unfortunately, the brace actually obstructed the teen’s breathing. The obstruction was such that the child needed to be taken to a hospital on several different occasions when the brace was used. However, regardless, the teacher kept using the brace.

The father claims that he specifically told the teacher to stop using this procedure, because he knew that it was too great a medical risk. According to the suit, however, the brace continued to be used even after the complaints. Last year, following a medical emergency, the child died at home. Now the family is claiming that the damage caused by the improper neck brace contributed to the teen’s death.

This latest suit is another testament to the many ways that special needs students face many extreme challenges, even in places where they are supposed to be safe—like their school. As this case develops it will be important for those involved to gain a very clear grasp of what led to the boy’s death. Even if the immediate medical emergency which caused his passing was not use of the neck brace, there is a chance that the brace weakened the child in ways that made the immediate injury more likely to occur.

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Family Awarded $4.5 Million Following Birth Injury Lawsuit

Family Receives $1.5M Settlement for Birth Injury/Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Each Illinois cerebral palsy lawyer at our firm remains amazed at the tremendous accomplishments that those suffering from this birth injury attain in their lives, despite the extra challenges that they face. From running businesses and playing sports to making others laugh and providing listening ears, those with cerebral palsy continue to enrich the lives of those around them. However, that is not to say that they do not face extra hurdles. As we repeatedly explain, these community members ability to maximize their quality of life is heavily dependent on having access to available resources to deal with the challenges of the condition. When local residents file an Illinois birth injury lawsuit on behalf of their loved one who developed cerebral palsy as a result of their medical caregiver’s negligence, they simply want to ensure that their loved one has the chance to reach their potential.

Max Preps recently shared the heartwarming story of one young man with cerebral palsy who has used his perseverance and love of basketball to inspire all those in his small community. The fifteen-year old was recently profiled for his positive outlook. The young man has ataxic cerebral palsy, which is the least common form of the condition. Ataxic cerebral palsy is characterized by low muscle tone and difficulty with movements. In addition, it affects ones sense of balance and depth perception. Of course these mobility challenges would seem to offer extra challenges when engaged in activities like playing basketball. However, this young man does not allow it to interfere with his focus of doing his best and being part of the team. The young man played in nineteen of the teams twenty five games. In fact, he was able to score six three point shots throughout the season, including one in the team’s only playoff game.

The teen was surprised when he found out that he could join the basketball team without any tryouts. Because he lives in a small town with only 800 people (and school with only 67 students), anyone who wants is able to join the squad. The team may not win many games—only one out of the twenty five this season—but for this teen it is the experience that matters. He reminds all those around him that it is a gift just to be able to be on the court at all.

His mother explains that he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy not long after his first birthday. His first doctor said that he would probably never walk or talk. However, his mother decided to get a second opinion, and the boy has defied the odds. In fact, he does not even walk with the limp that is usually characteristic of cerebral palsy. He explains, “I sway my head a little bit, but other than that I handle my CP pretty well.” In addition, his voice is clear without a noticeable issue. The teen hopes to use that voice one day for sports announcing. He is now making plans to attend college and hopes to study some sort of communications to get involved with broadcasting.

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Family of Injured Boy Seeks Approval of $30M Award in Birth Injury Lawsuit

Doctor’s Failure to Treat Jaundice Causes Baby to Suffer Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury

The San Francisco Chronicle published a troubling story this week about allegations of chronic abuse at state institutions for children and adults with special needs. According to the story, reports of abuse and chronic mistreatment at facilities for the disabled often go uninvestigated. An examination by an advocacy group known as “California Watch” has found that a task force charged with investigating mysterious deaths may not be doing its job.

The disabled residents in question include many who suffered birth injuries like cerebral palsy. The task force is supposed to ensure that the thousands of members of this vulnerable community receive adequate treatment. But the task force often fails to investigate. For example, a 50-year old autistic man died a few years after breaking his neck. A thorough investigation was not undertaken and no responsibility was ever had. In fact, out of the hundreds of reported cases of abuse over the past five years, only twice has an investigation led to an arrest. Allegations include claims of physical attacks and sexual assaults without anyone ever facing prosecution.

The law in the state requires that all mysterious deaths be fully investigated. Unexplained injuries are the most common reason for a death to be deemed mysterious. But even with this legal requirement, investigations rarely occur. The article shared stories of individuals who suffered broken bones, skin tears, sexual wounds, burns, and other injuries. In one case, a 25-year old cerebral palsy resident began coughing up blood and died of internal bleeding. It was later discovered that he had three cotton swabs in his stomach that torn a whole in his esophagus. His doctors admitted that with his physical abilities, it would have been impossible for the man to have picked up and swallowed the swabs on his own. No one was ever held responsible.

Each Illinois cerebral palsy attorney at our firm is well aware of the chronic problems faced by many youngsters with special needs who are forced to live at these institutions. For example, we have blogged about problems at one of these homes, Alden Village North, that was consistently cited for negligent care of young residents. A shocking 14 children died under mysterious circumstances at the facility over a series of years. In many of those cases it was clear that the death was caused at least in part my negligence on the part of caregivers.

In virtually all of these cases, the children are at these facilities because their family members do not have the resources or capability to provide them with the care that they need at home. Our Chicago cerebral palsy lawyers believe that when a child’s disability is caused by the misconduct of medical professionals at birth, then fairness demands that the negligent party pay for the consequences of their errors. In the birth injury context, that often means ensuring the injured child has access to quality services so that they are not forced to live in the often abysmal circumstances faced by those at facilities like these. We remain proud of our work on behalf of these vulnerable community members. If you or a loved one may know of a child that is not receiving the care they need, please do not sit in silence. Report the situation to authorities.

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Family of Injured Boy Seeks Approval of $30M Award in Birth Injury Lawsuit

New Test to Detect Heart Defect Birth Injuries

Tampa Bay Online reported this week on the latest legislative maneuvers involving the birth injury lawsuit recovery process for the family of a child with cerebral palsy. As we explained when discussing the challenges that many families face when trying to collect certain damage awards, one family is asking the Florida general assembly to approve a $30.8 million award that a jury gave it after a suit related to mistakes made during the child’s birth. The hospital where the negligence occurred is public. The laws in the state require all suits involving governmental defendants to be dispersed only upon passage of actual pieces of legislation—known as “claims bills.”

The child in this case suffers from cerebral palsy and other disabilities. After a lawsuit was filed, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the boy. They found that the birth injuries were caused by negligent care received at the facility. As often occurs in these situations, the child was deprived of oxygen during his birth. The oxygen problem itself was caused by the overdosing of a drug given to the mother. The drug was supposed to stimulate labor. Instead, because too much was given, it sent the baby into fetal distress. To make matters worse, the medical team which provided the care did not respond to the distress in a timely fashion.

The family has engaged in a prolonged legislative fight in order to get the amount awarded by the jury. The family has been forced to trudge the halls of the state legislative essentially asking all legislators who will listen to pass the bill. On the other side, hospital lobbyists are fighting the measure—disputing that negligence occurred at all. This despite the fact that a jury already heard all the evidence in reaching its ruling and a “special master” recommended that the payment be approved by the state legislature. The endless hoops that this family must attempt to jump through to receive basic fairness is staggering—yet another testament to the misguided nature of virtually all “tort reform” measures.

Our Chicago birth accident attorneys know that families in these situations suffer mightily when they do not have the resources they need to pay for the daunting care required by certain disabilities. In this case, the mother makes only $14,000 annually as a dog groomer. She explains that her son used to be a straight A student. However, she can no longer afford private tutoring, and so the child’s academics have suffered as a result. He is now home-schooled by the mother.

According to this latest report, if the legislature approves this particular birth injury lawsuit claims bill, it will be the largest in the state’s history. Our Illinois cerebral palsy attorneys understand how a case involving this particular injury could occasionally lead to a high verdict amount. Cerebral palsy comes in many variations, but in the most severe cases, the child may need incredibly close and extensive care twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. Intensive medical care and nursing help over the course of a long lifetime can add up quickly.

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Family of Injured Boy Seeks Approval of $30M Award in Birth Injury Lawsuit

Doctor’s Failure to Treat Jaundice Causes Baby to Suffer Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury

Local parents who have children with an Illinois birth injury often ask the basic question, “Why my family?” These sorts of accidents—particularly when they are caused by medical malpractice—seem arbitrary and capricious. There doesn’t seem to by any rhyme or reason to certain birth injuries or defects, and those families whose children are afflicted with certain ailments often struggle to understand the meaning of it all.

This is perhaps most apparent in cases like the one discussed in a recent Pioneer Press story where twins were born with one being completely healthy and the other being inflicted with cerebral palsy. It seems particularly cruel to consider that both children, born at essentially the same time, will have completely different challenges, abilities, goals, and struggles throughout their lives. There are no easy answers to questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose in these situations. All that families can do is take each day as it comes and work toward the future, instead of dwelling on the past.

The inspirational Pioneer Press story explains how the two brothers—one with cerebral palsy—grew up together and bonded even though they each faced different challenges. One of the brothers happens to be well-known actor Ashton Kutcher. His twin brother, Mike, recently gave an inspirational speech to a group of high school students about what life was like growing up with cerebral palsy with a brother who was completely healthy.

Mike Kutcher explained that he was born shortly after his brother, weighing six pounds less, becoming over-oxygenated while in the womb. As the boys got older, their mother noticed that Mike was more sluggish than Ashton. Eventually Mike was diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy. From an early age he had trouble with physical tasks on the right side of his body. He is 80% deaf in his left ear and has had two cataract surgeries. At age 13 he discovered that his heart was giving out. Three weeks later his heart went out. His parents were faced with either letting him go or trying a heart pump that might extend his life by 48 hours. They chose the pump. Amazingly, 24 hours later a donor heart arrived. The transplant took. Even though the transplant was supposed to last seven years, he has so far survived 20 years with it.

However, despite all of this, Mike insists that he works hard not to use his disability as an excuse not to reach for his goals. He explains his life philosophy today, “He will try. Sometimes, he’ll miss. Other times, he’ll succeed.” Trying is 90% of the battle.

Growing up following a birth injury of any kind is difficult. There is no way around that. That is particularly true for those with combination physical and cognitive impairments, like cerebral palsy. However, as this story explains, and our Illinois cerebral palsy attorneys appreciate, one isn’t destined to any future based on the challenges they face at birth. Every child has the potential to do great things and impact the lives of those around them, no matter what challenges they face. What matter is what families do after the birth to give their loved one the best chance possible to grow, learn, and reach their potential. We remain proud of the work that we do helping families in these situations ensure that their children have access to the full range of support services necessary to live fulfilling lives.

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Understanding Cerebral Palsy

Birth Injuries Often Have Lifelong Consequences

The Star News reported yesterday on the end of a cerebral palsy lawsuit that was a long-time in the works. The suit was filed by a family whose daughter was permanently injured due to a childbirth error in 1984. According to the accusations made in the lawsuit, the victim’s mother went into labor in the morning in January of 1984. The birth was supposed to be routine, but it did not end up that way. The girl was born without proper oxygen flow into her brain. The mother recalls she came out a shade a blue and was silent, without the usually cry heard from healthy newborns.

The family soon learned that the girl was born with a severe brain injury—cerebral palsy—and would need constant care throughout her life. Over the years the family has been to countless doctors, therapists, and other medical experts. They knew that something went wrong during the birth, but they did not know that there was anything they could do after the fact to hold those involved accountable.

Now twenty eight years old, the woman lives at an assisted care facility. She works at a candle manufacturing plant. He parents still provide close care, driving her to work and providing aid with basic tasks, like getting dressed and undressed. As the child (now woman) aged the family began worrying about what would happen to her once the parents were gone. That is why they eventually sought out the help of a birth injury lawyer. The lawyer initiated a suit which ultimately lasted over eleven years.

Finally, after the prolonged legal battle, a jury ruled that the girl’s injuries were caused by medical negligence which allowed her to be deprived of oxygen for a prolonged period of time while in utero. More specifically, the court ruled that a nurse did not properly monitor the child’s heartbeat. The jury returned a verdict for the family for $8.5 million.

Our Illinois cerebral palsy lawyers know that many families in our area have the same concerns. Victims of these birthing problems—particularly when a brain injury accrues—often need lifelong care. They frequently need assistance with the most basic essentials of life. Of course, the injured child’s family usually provides the services that are needed for the victim to get by each day. However, there is the problem of what happens when the individual’s support group is no longer around. Parents always assume that their children will out-live them, and so those parents who are providing care to children with various injuries are understandably concerned about that happens when they are no longer around.

When the underlying medical problem was caused by negligent care received at birth, than a medical malpractice lawsuit demanding redress for the costs of the error is reasonable. These suits are often important ways for families to ensure that their loved one will receive the best care possible down the road—when the parents have moved on. If you or someone you know is in this situation in our area, there is little to lose by at least visiting an Illinois birth injury lawyer, sharing your story, and seeing if anything can be done.

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Understanding Cerebral Palsy

Birth Injuries Often Have Lifelong Consequences

Our Illinois cerebral palsy lawyers know that all families whose children are born with cerebral palsy have an endless number of questions. Few families are prepared for the situation. Of course, the questions run the gamut from trying to understand what limitations their child might have to concerns about figuring out how the injury arose in the first place. Each Illinois cerebral palsy attorney at our firm appreciates that it is natural to have these questions and to demand answers. Unfortunately, we also know that many cases of cerebral palsy can be prevented, because they are caused by traumatic births and complication which develop as a result—including oxygen deprivation to the infant’s brain. At times there is a genetic component to cerebral palsy development, and not every single case is caused by medical malpractice. However, in far more cases that local community members realize, the actual harm is rooted in improper handling of a complicated birth.

Usually family members only learn about all of these things after their loved one is born with the condition. Fortunately, there is essentially an endless array of resources for families on the topic—because there are now so many families in this situation. One of many in-depth, online spaces for families to turn to from the start is CerebralPalsy.org. The website offers an incredibly wealth of information about the condition, its causes, care plans, and much more. It also includes a list of inspirational stories so that families can gain a sense of perspective.

Of course the website goes though a list of basic information about how cerebral palsy developments, risk factors, forms of cerebral palsy, symptoms, and prevention. In addition, a comprehensive list of care topics are explored, including care at home, special education programs, and legal services. The CP Blog, which is connected to the website, is also a helpful place to check from time to time to share information about your own circumstances and to interact with others.

The site also discusses the “My Child” program which acts as a guided resource throughout a child with cerebral palsy’s development. The program is essentially a customized caregiving plan that works individually with each child based on their own unique abilities and challenges. In this way, it helps families feel secure knowing that their own child is developing as strongly as possible throughout their childhood.

While help exits to guide parents and children through the process of growing up with cerebral palsy, the help often requires resources. Many families simply do not have the resources to provide the best care or receive the best aid for their children. However, when the condition itself was caused by the errors of another—hospitals, doctors, nurses—then it is only natural for those negligent parties to provide the resources necessary for the child to receive the best care available. Our Chicago cerebral palsy attorneys have worked with countless families in this exact situation. There is nothing to lose form contacting a legal professional to see what might be done in your case.

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Understanding Cerebral Palsy

Birth Injuries Often Have Lifelong Consequences

Many community members may not understand that certain well-known birth injuries, like cerebral palsy, actually refer to a series of potential conditions. Cerebral palsy is actually a category of injuries that commonly refer to problems affecting one’s movements, posture, balance, cognitive development, and other nervous system functions. Each of these problems can arise in varying degrees, often because of developmental disabilities or through oxygen problems to the child’s brain during its delivery. When the problem was caused by oxygen deprivation during the delivery, it may have actually resulted from negligent conduct on the part of those providing the care. If that is the case, then our Chicago birth injury lawyers know that those involved can be held liable for the misconduct. Those parties are then rightfully required to provide compensation for the losses suffered by those involved.

Families who file these suits do so because they want to ensure that their child has access to all possible resources that will allow them to reach their full potential. Of course children with cerebral palsy will face many challenges in their lives that other children might not face, but that does not mean that cerebral palsy victims do not have the same opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive as others. Having access to the specialized resources necessary to reach their potential, however, is something with which many families struggle. It is always heart-breaking to see a child who is not able to grow as much as possible because they are not receiving the one-on-one specialized care necessary for their full development.

A Fox News article this week discussed the special education needs of those with cerebral palsy. Because cerebral palsy actually refers to a group of disorders and the overall disability of victims vary along a spectrum, the education needs of children with cerebral palsy are quite varied. Some children with milder symptoms are able to be educated in a general education classroom while others require special classroom assistance.

No matter what the case, education experts explain that all of a child’s symptoms need to be addressed cohesively. That means that occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and other early intervention services must be accounted for on top of regular classroom learning. All of it works to strengthen the child’s motor and communication skills (on top of academics). Coupled with that, many communities have found it incredibly helpful to also work on building up a child’s self-care and daily living skills. Independence is always an issue with many cerebral palsy victims, and so all steps that may help a child be able to live more fully on their own are positive.

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys are well aware that properly providing this care is not cheap. Even things like the design and structure of a physical classroom must be accounted for when considering this type of education. The child’s motor skills need to be kept in mind with these educational spaces so that they are able to move about freely without being exposed to certain safety risks. Thing like modified pencils and paper, communication aids, and similar devices are also often necessary to ensure that the child is given as good as chance as possible to grow academically.

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Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

Our Illinois birth injury lawyers are used to fending off criticisms that the settlements and jury verdicts in many of these lawsuits are excessive. For one thing, many of the critics are mistaken about the average settlement or verdict amount. Their opinions are skewed by news article headlines which selectively highlight only those cases where the plaintiff wins and the award is high. Many birth injury lawsuits result in absolutely no money being paid to victims, and the average settlements are far lower than the most ardent critics often suggest.

There is another line of criticism that argues that while harm caused to infants because of preventable medical malpractice at birth are tragic, there is little to be gained by awarding the victim large sums of money. These critics seem to concede that these cases have merit, but they argue that demanding accountability and providing victims with redress has little benefit.

We strongly disagree.

The truth is that while victims of birth injuries will face many unique challenges in their lives as a result of the injury, if they are given enough resources to reach their full potential, their accomplishments can be just as impressive as children who did not face similar challenges. Take the case of one thirty-three year old cerebral palsy victim who did not let his disability get him down. He is now the owner of a successful computer care business. The company has been in operation for the last seven years and has build up an impressive client base of over 200 individuals and businesses. As a story in the Middlebury Patch explained, the man was born three months prematurely and has been in a wheelchair his entire life. His disability makes it difficult for him to write. As a result he began using sophisticated computer systems to help from the age of five. By age six he had already written his first computer program. Throughout his entire life he has always been involved in the cutting edge of computers.

The man is able to drive, and has a wheelchair accessible van that helps him get to his clients. His parents have also been able to modify their home to make it completely wheelchair accessible. This includes changes to many basic layouts that make it easy to reach countertops, appliances, and the like. However, he admits that there remain some challenges. He explains that he has lost a few jobs because he was unable to access the computers in his chair. He noted that the problem was most pronounced in older buildings or places where he was not able to access the chair lift on his van.

This remarkable man is the perfect testament to what individuals who suffer from these disabilities can accomplish so long as they have the determination and access to the resources they need to maximize their potential. Unfortunately, many fellow victims of cerebral palsy will never have the same chance at success as this man, because they face day-to-day struggles to gain access to the resources they need. Many families struggle to provide even the basic life necessities for their children with disabilities, let alone provide the extra materials that could help them learn as much as possible. When the birth injury itself is caused by the negligence of another it is perfectly reasonable and appropriate for the negligent party to ensure that victim has access to the resources they need to reach their full potential.

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Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

As blog readers know, cerebral palsy (CP) describes a range of conditions that affect one’s bodily movements, balance, and posture. In many cases, cerebral palsy is not readily apparent to doctors or parents at a child’s birth. Instead, it is often only identified as a child develops. It can be caused by a range of issues, usually from oxygen deprivation to the brain. This oxygen deprivation might be spurred by improper lung development in premature babies, umbilical cord prolapse when babies are born in breech position, and other instances. Birth injury lawsuits filed after a child develops cerebral palsy usually allege that the involved doctors were improperly prepared to handle these conditions, allowing the birth injury to occur that could have been prevented. The consequences to the child of cerebral palsy vary considerably, from completely debilitating to mild. Beyond problem with movement, victims also may have trouble with hearing, vision, and speech.

According to the Center for Disease Control’s website, roughly one in three hundred children suffer from cerebral palsy. Therefore, many local families have children and relatives who are dealing with these issues. During the holiday season, many families or loved ones may be unsure what the best gift might be for a child with cerebral palsy. According to a recent Seed News story, those buying for children with cerebral palsy are often challenged to buy gifts that are both fun and also aid in the child’s development.

One website that caters to these exact holiday questions is “Cerebral Palsy Toys and Play Aids.” The online resource provides detailed information about how play time for all children (including those with CP) is much different from adult recreation. Child play time is not just for escapism, but it is actually an important time when they think and learn. Their toys should keep this in mind. For example, the website explains how for youngest children with CP, more sensory stimulation is usually advantageous. These may include objects that combine motions and music and lights. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the fine motor skills of the child to understand if a certain play aid will be appropriate—though even if the object might be a challenge it could be a good challenge that actually helps the child develop those motor skills.

Another great resource is Astra Toy—the American Specialty Toy Retail Association. The group explains that they are committed to helping all those involved in the toy making process to develop products that are of high quality on both learning and playing fronts. Astra reminds readers that far too often children with certain disabilities are disappointed when relatives buy “safe” gifts, like clothes, instead of fun objects that they’d actually like to play with. Instead, the experts recommend families take a look at the website Able Play, for a comprehensive look at toys that might fit children with certain disabilities.

Our Chicago birth injury lawyers hope all families who have loved ones with CP find the perfect gifts for their friends and family members this season. We know that living with CP presents many unique challenges. However, time and again we have been impressed by the ways that families adapt to those challenges, from guaranteeing that their children receive the best therapy possible to ensuring that just the right holiday gift is found.

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Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

Fox News 19 profiled a seven-year old birth injury victim who suffers from cerebral palsy. As with all victims of cerebral palsy, the youngster has faced a variety of challenges throughout his life including both mental and physical difficulties. As our Chicago birth injury lawyers have often discussed on this blog, one of the particularly difficult challenges faced by suffers of cerebral palsy are movement problems. Many are confined to wheelchairs, as they are unable to walk on their own. These problems often require close, around the clock for their entire lives. This is one of the reasons that birth injury lawsuits filed where cerebral palsy developed due in whole or part by medical negligence often results in significant settlements and jury awards.

Fortunately, researchers are working each day to develop products that make the lives of these victims a little easier. For example, the boy profiled in this news story is using a small device on his shin to help him walk. The medical tool is roughly the size of an iPod, but it packs an impressive punch, working to help the child walk while re-teaching his brain some basic skills. The child suffers from a cerebral palsy condition known as “foot drop” which is a form of partial lower leg paralysis. The lower leg problems have led the boy to be particularly weak on his right side and he has a noticeably unnatural gait.

Yet this new device helps alleviate the problem. The device, known as a WalkAide, is worn around the child’s calf, over the shin and just below the knee. It works by sending mild electrical currents into the wearer’ leg muscles, helping to restore mobility to the area. The physical stimulation works to allow the lower leg to behave as it might had he not suffered from the cerebral palsy. In addition, the device actually works to re-wire the young child’s brain. After wearing the device for a certain period of time and then turning it off, the boy is able to take more “normal” steps than before. The child’s parents explain that he could take 300 normal steps without the aid of the device, something that he could never do before the stimulations using the WalkAide. The child’s parents admit that they are thrilled with the progress. They especially appreciate the fact that the device is so easy to use.

The technology used in the device has apparently been available to adult sufferers for some time. However, it was only this year that the device was allowed to be worn by children. The boy in this case developed his physical problems as a result of a stroke that he suffered while in his mother’s womb. Doctors believe that the stroke led to a more temperate form of cerebral palsy. Right now the device is only capable of helping certain cerebral palsy victims—usually those with more mild symptoms. As our birth injury lawyers have explained, cerebral palsy is actually a catch-all term that applies to a range of mental and physical problems.

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Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises

Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy

Earlier this week WKBW News shared the story of a family that has had to overcome many struggles after their twin girls were both born with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is actually a term that refers to a range of problems that involve brain and nervous system functions. Those suffering from cerebral palsy face a myriad of problems affecting thinking, hearing, vision, movement, and most other basic human actions. Virtually all cerebral palsy sufferers require close, around-the-clock care for their entire lives. That is why when the harm is caused by a preventable medical mistake a birth injury lawsuit is often filed so that the involved families with have the resources they need to provide the lifetime of care.

In this case, the young girls have been aided by strong community support. The girls, now fourteen years old, have daily struggles, but their family works hard to ensure that they live as normal a life as possible. For example, the family’s home only has one bathroom, and it is on the second floor of the house. However, the girls cannot use the stairs, and their family carries them up every time. This has become an even more burdensome task as the girls have grown older and bigger. However, they had no other options, and so, like any good family, they simply did what they had to do. It is these daily activities that are often forgotten when people think about the long-term consequences of birth injuries.

Raising the girls had taken a toll on the family finances, but it became essential that the family have a handicap accessible bathroom on the first floor of their house. Fortunately, in this case, the family received some much needed community assistance. After working with a local state Senator and reaching out to others in the community, the family received the help they needed. Nearby residents devoted time, money, and labor, and eventually the family was able to begin construction on the bathroom. Ground was broken last week. At the groundbreaking the family thanked the long list of businesses and individuals that have worked to help in the remodeling effort. The state Senator who aided in the effort noted that “This significant quality of life improvement for the girls was achieved as a result of the family’s tireless work ethic and unwillingness to quit when it came to the health and safety of their children.”

The Illinois birth injury lawyers at our firm know how hard so many families work to provide what is necessary for their disabled children to have the best quality of life possible. It remains tragic when many of them are simply unable to have access to the services they need to get by each day—including basic accessibility issues. When the disability was preventable and caused by mistakes made by the medical team during delivery, then the law demands that those who caused the problem provide redress for their losses. The compensation goes toward things exactly like that here—nursing care, wheelchairs, accessible vehicles, home changes, and other requirements.

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Family of Injured Boy Seeks Approval of $30M Award in Birth Injury Lawsuit

Doctor’s Failure to Treat Jaundice Causes Baby to Suffer Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury

Not long ago our Chicago birth injury attorneys shared information on cerebral palsy—the term used to describe conditions affecting movement and brain problems in infants. Cerebral palsy is a severely damaging condition that forever alters the life of its young victims. It is for that reason that all efforts at preventing its development should be taken. When medical professionals fail to do everything in their power to prevent this injury, then a birth injury lawsuit may be necessary to ensure liability and accountability.

We know that filing an Illinois medical malpractice suit after these accidents are helpful ways of ensuring that a family will have the resources necessary to provide the care needed for their loved one as a consequences of the medical negligence. However, in an ideal world, the injuries would never arise in the first place. Medical researchers continue to work on studies involving these issues, hopefully discovering new methods of preventing cerebral palsy from developing at all. There has recently been some progress on that very front.

According to information published today in Medical Express, scientists have recently been able to prevent cerebral palsy-like brain damage from affecting mice. The researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine used a protein to prevent brain damage in situations that otherwise would have been particularly harmful. The professionals used a protein known as Nmnat1 to protect brain development in mice which were designed to mimic development in newborns. Certain mice were genetically engineered to produce increased level of the protective protein. Researchers then waited and compared the level of brain damage of regular mice and those with more of the Nmat1 protein. Those with enhanced protein levels had noticeably less brain damage as soon as six hours after an injury. After a week, the differences were even starker with engineered mice experiencing much less damage to brain areas which usually lead to cerebral palsy problems.

The protective protein may ultimately work to prevent cerebral palsy by substantially reducing the damage caused to a developing brain that is deprived of oxygen. One of the main causes of this and similar birth injuries is a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain caused by complexities during childbirth. Beyond cerebral palsy, these findings may also ultimately help medical professionals treats strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, and other conditions involved brain degeneration.

As with much new medical research, there is still a lot more to figure out. Professionals are still not exactly sure how the protein works to protect the brain. Right now those involved with this study suspect that the protein blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter—glutamate When a brain cell is damaged, it releases glutamate which can then over stimulate and harm nearby cells. If the protein blocks glutamate, then those nearby cells can be saved where otherwise they would be destroyed. Our Illinois injury attorneys know that even though there remain work to be done on these issues, this latest research is a very positive development which may ultimately prevent harm and improve lives of area resident hurt by inadequate medical care.

In Other News: Two of our companion blogs--The Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog and Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog--were nominated for inclusion as one of the Top 25 Tort Blogs of 2011. The award is part of the LexisNexis project which seeks to feature blogs that set the standard in certain practice areas and industries. The voting to narrow down the field is currently underway, and we would love to have your vote. All you have to do is add a comment at the end of the post about the Top 25 bogs.

Please Follow This Link To Vote: Vote for Our Blog. Thanks for your support!

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Understanding Cerebral Palsy

Birth Injuries Often Have Lifelong Consequences

Cerebral palsy is one of the more well-known conditions affecting infants at birth. Our Chicago birth injury lawyers have worked with many families whose children suffer from cerebral palsy. However, while many community members have likely heard of the condition, few are exactly aware of what it means or what effect is has on those afflicted. In reality, cerebral palsy is actually best thought of as a group of disorders which affect the brain and nervous system. The National Center for Biotechnology explains that those living with the condition face a variety of sensory challenges with thinking, seeing, learning, hearing, and moving. Victims suffer a range of problems, from some minor muscle coordination problems to more advanced problems with walking and balancing.

We know that many victims of cerebral palsy develop the problem as a result of an Illinois birth injury. For example, babies born in the breech position may face a situation known as umbilical cord prolapse where the umbilical cord is compressed, cutting off blood flow and oxygen to the brain. However, the condition can also arise in the early stages of infancy from many conditions such as brain infections, bleeding on the brain, severe jaundice and others.

It is often helpful to consider the three main types of cerebral palsy. The first is known as ataxic. This condition is characterized by problems with muscle tones, which often results in shaky or unsteady movements. Second, choreoathetoid cerebral palsy sufferers have trouble with limb, trunk, and face muscles. These muscles often move spontaneously and victims lack the ability to voluntarily control them. Finally, spastic sufferers are the most common victims constituting about seventy percent of those with cerebral palsy. This form of the condition is characterized by stiff and tense muscles that severely limit movements. While these three categories are helpful to logically understand the condition, it is possible for some sufferers to exhibit a mix of symptoms. Also, some medical professionals have added other, far less common categories.

The Illinois cerebral palsy lawyers at our firm know that the medical costs associated with these conditions are high. The day-to-day care required may be extensive, and because most sufferers develop the problems at birth, the costs must be paid over the course of a lifetime. Many patients need skilled nursing care at all moments. Few families have the resources to provide these needed services on their own. Instead, the burden often falls on the taxpayers who provide assistance throughout public healthcare programs. In other cases, when the injury was caused by a birth injury that should have been prevented, families are capable of receiving assistance from the wrongdoer for the costs of the care.

Cerebral palsy currently has no cure. However, it is encouraging that recent advances in medicine have brought positive news for those hoping for medical improvements to aid sufferers. In one case, a four year old girl was able to talk, walk, and interact with others after she received an injection of her own stem cells taken from her umbilical cord shortly after birth. Hopefully those positive trends continue and the lives of those with cerebral palsy can be improved.

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Hypothermia Treatment for Lack of Oxygen Birth Injuries

Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuit Settles for Over $15 Million

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys recently learned about a birth injury lawsuit that resulted in a $30 million dollar settlement for the family of the victim of the birth injury. The birth injury lawsuit was against the hospital where the baby was delivered back in 1997. The lawsuit alleged that due to the negligence of the hospital the baby was born with severe brain and birth injuries that have led him to have permanent disabilities. When the baby’s mother went into labor she was given a drug that was to induce her contractions but then the doctors at the hospital failed to monitor both the mother and the baby. This led the baby to be without oxygen and by the time the doctor’s realized what was going on they had to perform an emergency cesarean section. According to Naples News, all of the time without oxygen severely injured the baby and led to permanent brain injuries in the baby and he was diagnosed as having developed cerebral palsy from his oxygen deprivation.

The baby that was injured back in 1997 at the hospital is now 14 years old. His cerebral palsy requires that for him to be able to communicate he needs certain equipment and tools, such as a special keyboard that he is able to tap out the letters of the words that he is trying to communicate to others. At one point he was able to go to school with other children his age, but due to budget cuts he lost his assistant that was there to help out in the classroom. Without his assistant in the classroom he is unable to keep up with the class, and in turn his mother now teaches him at home. This type of special care can be very expensive and is necessary for the young boy to use in order to communicate and keep up with other children his age educationally. Because of these expenses, the family of the birth injured boy has a great deal of expenses that are connected with the permanent brain injuries to the young boy. The boy lives with his mother whom is a single mother raising him on her own as well as home schooling him.

The birth injury lawsuit was originally decided back in 2007, where the boy and his parents (now divorced) were awarded $30 million dollars. The defendant hospital then appealed the decision and the appellate court upheld the decision in 2009. The family has since filed a claims bill against the hospital asking the state legislature to approve the payment of the damages that are due to the victim’s family. The reason that this amount has to be requested for payment is because the hospital is publicly run and there is a cap on the damages that a public entities can be required to pay, and while a jury is allowed to award a higher amount to the plaintiff, the damages must be approved before the defendant is required to pay the damages in full to the plaintiff. At this point the legislature has not yet approved the payment, but it is still pending and the family hopes that it will be approved soon in order to help them out with all of their costs associated with the hospital’s negligence that led to their son’s permanent brain injuries.

Our Illinois birth injury attorneys were interested to learn about an Illinois birth injury lawsuit settlement in which an Aurora family received over $15 million dollars after filing a lawsuit against the doctor who delivered the family's baby. The birth occurred seven years ago but the medical malpractice lawsuit just settled. The birth injury that the lawsuit was addressing was the result of negligence on the part of the doctor who delivered the baby and his actions left the baby with cerebral palsy and with mental retardation. Cerebral palsy is something that may occur during birth if the baby is without oxygen for too long, and is the term used to describe the conditions suffered by this lack of oxygen and that result is physical or mental developmental problems.

During delivery, the doctor attempted to use a vacuum extractor to help to deliver the baby, and continued to attempt to use this method even after the method failed him multiple times. According to About Cerebral Palsy, even though the mother and the baby were in severe distress at the time of the delivery, the doctor did not intervene or try to reduce the permanent damage to the baby and instead kept trying something that had failed multiple times before. The baby appeared to have been developing with no problems prior to during the delivery and it is very likely that had the doctor performed a C-section when the complications presented themselves, the baby would not have been born with any serious permanent birth related injuries. While the doctor did eventually perform a C-section to deliver the baby, it was not until after multiple failed attempts with the vacuum extraction device.

Because the doctor ignored the signs, the mother and baby were in distress for too long and as a result the baby was born with and will permanently have serious brain and developmental damage as a result. Treatment for these lifelong birth injuries will be very expensive and that is part of the reason that the family was asking for the amount in the lawsuit. Additionally, the amount sought by the family and the amount determined in the settlement not only includes money for the medical bills, but also compensation for all that the young boy and the family has suffered through as a result of the doctor's negligence.

Continue reading "Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuit Settles for Over $15 M" »

A birth injury lawsuit was just settled before going to trial in favor of the family of a baby that suffered a severe brain injury during birth. Our Illinois birth injury attorneys found this case interesting because the lawsuit was against a midwife that helped delivery the baby, and alleged that the midwife acted negligently in delivering the baby causing the baby to suffer from permanent brain injuries. The baby was born over two and a half years ago at a wellness center that was founded by the midwife who was named as defendant in the lawsuit. The midwife involved had several complaints that had been filed against her and the complaints led to an investigation of her practice. The lawsuit, as well as the other complaints, alleged that the midwife was not handling her cases in a proper way and was not consulting with the appropriate doctors when it was medically necessary for the mother or the baby.

According to The Concord Monitor, in this specific birth injury case that just settled, the midwife failed to refer the pregnant mother to a doctor and failed to send her to a hospital after she showed multiple risk factors during her pregnancy, including an inability to detect the baby’s heartbeat. After the baby was born showing signs of more serious distress the midwife still failed to immediately send the mother and baby to a hospital. As a result of the midwife’s lack of adequate care during the pregnancy and her lack of adequate care in failing to direct the mother to the appropriate places to help with the issues that presented themselves during the pregnancy, the baby suffered from cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a brain injury that may result when there are complications at birth that are not appropriately addressed. This permanent injury to the baby will require a lifetime of care and the money to fund that care, as well as money to help the family deal with all the pain and suffering they have experienced as a result of the midwife’s negligence, were what the lawsuit was seeking. The total of the settlement was $730,000 dollars and about half of that amount will be placed in a trust fund for the young baby girl, which will be used to help her with her medical costs throughout her lifetime.

This is not the only birth injury lawsuit that has been filed against this particular midwife, and another case also settled recently, in connection with a birth injury that occurred a little over three years ago. In that personal injury case, a mother that had just given birth with the same midwife as the previous lawsuit suffered an infection shortly after she gave birth. The infection was not properly addressed or treated by the midwife, and the woman eventually had to have a hysterectomy because of the infection she suffered shortly after giving birth at the midwife’s wellness center.

Our Chicago personal injury law firm has helped out victims of birth injuries and their families try to recover some of what has been lost as a result of the negligence of a doctor, a nurse or a midwife. Our birth injury attorneys have worked with clients all over the state of Illinois and are here to talk to you about a birth injury that has affected you or a loved one and to discuss what options are available for you and your family.

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys were happy to hear that the family of a baby who suffered a birth injury has been awarded $58 million dollars in a birth injury lawsuit. The lawsuit was initially filed following the birth of the family’s only child, who was born back in early 2003 and suffered from cerebral palsy from what they allege to have been the doctor’s negligent choices in handling the pregnancy and the baby’s delivery.

The negligence initially occurred when the baby’s mother went in for her routine check up during her 39th week of pregnancy and the doctor realized that her amniotic fluid was half of what it should have been in a healthy pregnancy. The doctor did not induce labor and instead the mother went into labor on her own a couple days later and the baby was stuck in the breech position and had barely any signs of life once the doctor was finally able to deliver the baby. According to the Connecticut Law Tribune, the family’s birth injury attorneys argued to the jury that the doctor realizing the amniotic fluid levels were low and not choosing to induce labor immediately was his main error, and that in choosing not to do anything he acted extremely negligently. An expert at trial stated that the very low levels of amniotic fluid clearly indicated that the baby was in trouble and that the doctor should have acted immediately and not let the mother go into labor on her own.

Because the baby was not delivered when the problem was discovered and because the baby was breech and took several minutes to be delivered, the baby was barely breathing and developed cerebral palsy. Luckily the baby survived this ordeal but requires a lot of medical attention and treatment and will continue to require this level of care throughout his life. In terms of a diagnosis, cerebral palsy can cover many different types of brain injuries which may be caused by something going wrong during birth, and in this case likely happened because the baby was without oxygen for several minutes during the delivery. Since it is likely that the doctor not acting when he first realized that there was a problem with the baby caused the injury to be so severe and a permanent, the family filed the lawsuit against him. The case first went to trial three years ago and the jury could not agree on what the verdict should be, but after the retrial the jury decided to award the family $58 million dollars for all they have suffered through as a result of the doctor’s negligence. The amount of the verdict was intended to try to compensate the family not only for the medical costs associated with the birth injury, but also for all the emotional damage they have suffered.

If you or a loved one gave birth to a baby and feel that the doctor that delivered the baby acted negligently and their actions resulted in an injury to the baby, please call our personal injury law firm today. Our birth injury attorneys have helped clients all over the state of Illinois recover damages for the negligent actions of another, and are here to help you or your loved one get the justice that you deserve.

Unfortunately birth injuries are far more frequent than one might realize and often times occur because of negligence on the part of the doctor or the hospital and could be avoided if the proper care was taken. Our birth injury attorneys realize that many of the birth injuries that they see are a result not of the baby having complications during pregnancy but rather there being a problem during delivery. According to Todays THV, two out of every three babies that are born at full-term experience some degree of oxygen loss related to the umbilical cord cutting off their air supply or by another type of problem during the birthing process. If this happens and the problem that is causing the lack of oxygen is taken care of immediately, or if the doctor realizes that the baby in distress as they are delivering the baby and act accordingly, the doctor can hopefully fix the problem before any serious or permanent damage to the newborn baby occurs.

Birth injuries caused by a lack of oxygen to the baby during birth can end up causing serious damage if the baby is without oxygen for a long enough period of time. The lack of oxygen can cause severe brain damage and can seriously impair the baby’s developmental abilities and can even lead to death. Cerebral palsy is condition that babies sometimes develop at birth when they suffer from a lack of oxygen, and this condition often involves a great deal of developmental problems or delays that can last throughout the baby’s lifetime. However, while oxygen deprivation at birth may unfortunately be rather common, a serious injury can often be avoided if the birth doctor realizes the problem and acts immediately to restore oxygen to the baby.

One interesting way in which a birth injury due to a lack of oxygen can be helped is through the use of a “cooling cap” which can be used for babies that suffer from a temporary deprivation of oxygen to the entire brain at birth (as opposed to a lack of oxygen to a portion of the brain). This method requires that either the baby’s entire body or head is kept cool for at least 72 hours and then the baby is taken off of the ventilator and re-warmed. This process may help with damage caused from the temporary lack of oxygen to the entire brain and has been found to work on a number of babies that have suffered from this type of birth injury.

While there are certain things that can be done to try to reduce or protect against severe brain injury after birth, all of the methods require that the doctor is immediately aware that there is a problem and act quickly to try to limit the damage to the baby. If during the birthing process or immediately after the birthing process you feel that the doctor that delivered your baby did not act using the utmost care or in some way acted negligently, please contact our Illinois personal injury attorneys to discuss what options may be available for you and your family.

Our Illinois birth injury attorneys recently learned about a case where the parents of a baby that developed cerebral palsy as a result of the delivering doctor’s negligence sued the doctor and recovered over a million dollars in damages. According to a news release on Law Firm News Wire, the doctor failed to miss obvious signs that the baby was in distress and in turn failed to take the appropriate measures necessary to keep the baby from developing a serious birth injury. When the mother went in for a checkup the doctor noticed the baby had a low heart rate and suggested inducing labor. The doctor then chose not to deliver the baby by C-section, as was originally planned, and this is the point at which the baby lost oxygen and developed cerebral palsy as well as other injuries. The doctor claimed that she did not notice anything wrong with the baby and that is the reason she opted against the C-section. Evidence at trial showed that had the baby been delivered by a C-section that the baby may not have been born with cerebral palsy. The medical malpractice lawsuit was brought by the parents of the baby against the doctor responsible for the cerebral palsy birth injury, and the jury found for the parents and found that the doctor was in fact negligent in his care during the birth of the baby.

Cerebral palsy is a disorder that cause brain and nervous system functions to be impaired and can greatly affect a person’s ability to think, hear, learn, see and move. These types of injuries often occur while the baby is in the womb or within the first couple years of life, and unfortunately may occur during childbirth if the baby is not getting oxygen to their brain for too long a period of time. There is no cure for cerebral palsy but treatment is aimed to help the person with cerebral palsy have as independent of a life as possible, and may include physical therapy, special diets, communication tools, and surgeries where necessary.

Certain cases of cerebral palsy may occur within the womb and can usually be avoided by making sure that the mother and baby have the proper prenatal care, as infections in the mother can lead to cerebral palsy in the baby. All doctors that are treating pregnant mothers need to be very aware of the mother and baby’s health at all times during pregnancy to make sure that the baby does not end up with a disorder that could have been avoided. Also, cerebral palsy can occur, such as in this birth injury lawsuit, when the baby does not get enough oxygen during birth. A doctor helping with a birth needs to be carefully monitoring the baby at all times and make sure that if the baby is not getting oxygen that they are able to act fast to try to avoid complications. In cases such as this lawsuit, a doctor’s negligence in being unaware of the warning signs lead to an incurable birth injury and caused the family great distress.

Our Chicago personal injury attorneys have helped out families all over Illinois when their baby was injured during the birthing process by a doctor, nurse, or hospital staff member who acted negligently. If you or a loved one have experienced this type of hardship, please do not hesitate to call us today to discuss the options available to you and your family.

Recently, our Chicago birth injury attorneys read about a 16-pound baby born to a woman in Texas. While the majority of onlookers reveled in the newborn's cute and happy photos, it is important to note that there are a number of dangers to both mother and child surrounding an infant with macrosomia (a newborn with an excessive birth weight). Macrosomia is a serious condition often linked with birth injuries such as shoulder dystocia. In addition, babies who are born with Macrosomia are subject to increased risks in the development of asthma, cancer, diabetes, allergies and life-long struggles with obesity.

There are a number of reasons as to why some babies are born with a high birth weight. Some babies are born large because their parents are large people. Some babies are large because they are born after their due date. Hispanic women have an increased chance of delivering overweight children when compared with other races. While these risk factors cannot be prevented, there are a number of others that can be. According to a board-certified OB/GYN on the Daily Beast Health Blog, the “three most significant risks for having an overweight baby are… obesity prior to getting pregnant, excessive weight gain during pregnancy, and uncontrolled diabetes.”

Because of the increased risks in child birth that overweight babies present, it is important that physicians identify the size of a child before his or her birth and to take the necessary precautions in preventing birth injuries when it is known that a baby will be born with macrosomia. If physicians do not follow proper practice in these instances they may be subject to medical malpractice liability.

One of the many concerns that need to be dealt with in the delivery of an overweight child is the possibility of shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia occurs when a mother is able to deliver the head of her child, but the body gets stuck in the mother’s birth canal. When this happens a baby has a high chance of developing nerve damages or other serious injuries including the possibility of death. The chances of delivering a baby with shoulder dystocia are greatly increased for babies that are delivered with macrosomia.

Our Chicago birth-Injury lawyers recognize the difficulty that delivering overweight babies presents. Since our practice was founded, we have represented a number of families in cases involving birth injuries like shoulder dystocia during a macrosomic birth. In one of these cases, our client's physicians failed to perform an ultrasound to determine the size of the baby even though the mother's first child was macrosomic. They also failed to inform the child's mother of the risks associated with delivering a baby of this size or inform her that a c-section was an option to reduce these risks. As a result, our client's daughter suffered a shoulder dystocia and the family pursued a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for her injuries and to pay the child's past and future medical care and treatments. We settled the family's shoulder dystocia lawsuit in 2009 for $1.35 million against the negligent physicians and hospital staff that caused her injuries.

As we have often discussed on this blog, each day children are born with the often debilitating muscle disorder known as cerebral palsy. Sadly, many of those infants could have avoided acquiring the birth injury if only the medical professionals involved in their delivery would have acted consistent with recognized medical standards.

Cerebral palsy is a muscle disorder—affecting muscle tone, posture, and movement. Signs of the problem appear very early on in an infant’s life. There remain varieties of possible causes, but several of those causes original during childbirth itself. Far too often medical practitioners use inadequate procedures, causing a child to develop cerebral palsy.

That appears to be the case in a new birth injury lawsuit that was recently reported on in the St. Petersburg Times. A family is suing the Bayfront Medical Center after their infant was born blind and with cerebral palsy. According to the suit, the doctors used a device known as a vacuum extractor to essentially pull the young child out of the mother’s womb. The use of the device caused the young boy hemorrhage—leading to the brain injury and resulting medical disabilities. The family is claiming that the child should have instead been born through a Cesarean section, which would have prevented the injury.

The vacuum extractor is a device first used in the 1950s. Its use has decreased over the years, as many feel it presents unnecessary risk of complications. Its use is particularly dangerous to use the device on pre-term infants (as was the case in this suit). The nurses at the hospital were aware of this extra risk, but they failed to do anything to stop the vacuum being used.

Continue reading "Birth Injury Lawsuit Filed After Child Born with Cerebral Palsy" »

According to aboutlawsuits.com, a medical malpractice lawyer recently helped a family receive a $19.2 million verdict in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving their infant daughter. Fifteen days after the couple’s three-month premature daughter was born, the infant was given an improper dosage of nutrients. The child now suffers from cerebral palsy and blindness.

As a result of the events that transpired, the child’s parents brought a medical malpractice lawsuit against the medical center’s operator. Their complaint alleged that the infant was given a nutrients’ dosage that was 100 times more potent than the doctor’s prescription. Consequently, the 15-day old infant went into cardiac arrest and suffered complications. The center’s operator has maintained that the child’s current medical problems are a result of her premature birth. The operator has, however, admitted that it made a serious error during her treatment.

Birth injuries are a specific category of medical malpractice lawsuits that arise from a medical practitioner’s intentional or negligent actions either before, during, or following a child’s birth. The medical practitioner, who was responsible for the injuries, may be required to pay compensatory damages to the victim. These damages are an attempt to place the victim in a position as though the malpractice never occurred.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cerebral palsy refers to disorders that affect an individual’s ability to maintain muscle control as a result of brain damage. The CDC further states that a recent study projected 1 in 303 children suffer from cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy may be the result of genetic conditions, a shortage of blood supply to the brain before birth, infection, brain bleeding, a lack of oxygen, jaundice, and brain injury.

Continue reading "Family receives $19.2 million verdict for child’s birth injuries" »

Cerebral palsy remains a disorder that most only learn about after it strikes in their family. Once it becomes a personal reality the victims often scramble to discover more information about cerebral palsy and understand how it strikes. As with most medical issues, the Mayo Clinic provides a succinct, worthwhile initial foray into the character and cause of cerebral palsy.

What It Is
Cerebral palsy is a muscle disorder—affecting muscle tone, posture, and movement. Signs of the problem appear very early on in an infant’s life. Those symptoms most notably include limb rigidity, exaggerated reflexes, posture problems, involuntary movements, and trouble walking. Besides the physical problems, cerebral palsy suffers also experience intellectual problems, have vision and hearing issues, and seizures.

The disabilities associated with cerebral palsy affect each victim to different degrees. For some, the problems are only associated with one limb or one side of the body. For others the entire body is affected. The specific symptoms do not become worse over time. However, if not properly treated, the muscle issues can lead to complications, creating the appearance of an aggravation of the problem.

Causes
Most generally, cerebral palsy is caused by abnormalities or sudden problems in brain development. This typically occurs while the child is still in the womb or immediately before birth. Experts have identified a variety of causes that may lead to the disorder. These include: random gene mutations in the brain, maternal infection while pregnant, disruption in blood supply to a fetus, brain asphyxia during delivery leading to lack of oxygen, and traumatic head injury shortly after birth.

Several of those possible causes occur during childbirth, making it vital that medical professionals ensure that all proper steps are taken at that time to limit complications. Far too often, those medical practitioners fail to take action that they should, causing a child to develop cerebral palsy.

Continue reading "Cerebral Palsy Primer: What It Is & When It Arises" »

Avvo reported last week on the culmination of a medical malpractice lawsuit stemming from a birth injury.

The actual medical error leading to the trial occurred 18 years ago. The negligent obstetrician-gynecologist was presiding over the delivery of a baby girl when problems developed. However, the negligent doctor failed to act in a timely manner to help prevent complications from developing. Specifically, the doctor allowed a substantial time delay between the complications and the ordering of surgery. As a result of that error, the child suffered fetal asphyxia caused by umbilical cord compressions.

The damaging occurrence often leads to neurological problems in the infants, including cerebral palsy or even death. The child born here suffers from a number of developmental problems.

After hearing the evidence, the jury in this case found that the doctor’s poor care was a substantial factor in the girl’s asphyxia and subsequent neurological problems. They awarded her $3 million for her losses.

As blog readers are aware, quick action is crucial during childbirth. Even small delays in decision-making can be the difference between life and death. All childbirth doctors know this and are therefore held to a reasonable standard of care when they aid in deliveries.

Continue reading "Birth Injury Lawsuit Leads to $3 Medical Malpractice Verdict" »

According to a lawsuit recently filed by Fiona and Stanley Brown, negligence on the part of Lakeland OB-GYN and Lakeland Regional Medical Center caused their child, Destiny, to be born suffering from cerebral palsy and seizures.

The birth injury lawsuit claims that while Fiona and Stanley were at Lakeland Regional, the fetal monitor strip indicated a decrease in fetal heart rate. At thirty-eight weeks pregnant, Fiona was told that she needed to undergo an emergency Cesarean section.

Lakeland Regional is accused of not providing timely care before Destiny’s birth, not treating the fetal distress quickly enough, not reporting changes in Fiona’s condition to the attending doctor quickly enough, and of delaying the C-section.

Continue reading "Child Suffers from Cerebral Palsy and Seizures after Alleged Medical Malpractice" »

Chicago birth injury lawyers John J. Perconti and Patricia Gifford of Levin & Perconti represented a ten year old girl who suffers from cerebral palsy and mental retardation. The young girl sustained a brain injury during complications that could have been prevented during her birth.

On November 24, 2010, Levin & Perconti announced that the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL and a physician who failed to perform a timely Cesarean section agreed to pay a $6.5 million present cash value settlement to the injured child and her family.

Doctors failed to diagnose cephalopelvic disproportion in the pregnant mother. Physicians further failed to order an emergency Cesarean section even though they noted erratic decelerations in the fetus, a common warning sign for fetal hypoxia. Once an emergency Cesarean section was ordered, mistakes made by the anesthesiologist resulted in the nursing staff having to hold the mother down while the incision was made during the surgery.

Fortunately, both the newborn and mother survived the procedure. However, the newborn suffered from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, which caused the child’s cerebral palsy and mental retardation. The family plans to use the settlement to provide their daughter with the appropriate care she currently needs and the ongoing care she will have to have throughout her adult life.

Continue reading "Child with cerebral palsy receives $6.5 million birth injury settlement with Chicago hospital" »

A newborn in California recently received the benefits of an innovative therapy that cools the baby’s body to decrease brain injury. This therapy helps minimize birth-related brain injuries that can cause cerebral palsy, neurological problems and other cognitive delays.

The California newborn had been cut off from oxygen and was beginning to swell after his birth. There is only a small window of opportunity in which the therapy can be beneficiation. Doctors had around six hours to drop the baby’s body temperature to 92.3 degrees, about 6 degrees below normal.

To read more about this newborn’s success with this ground-breaking therapy, please visit The Fresno Bee.

Lower body temperatures have long been known to minimize brain injury. However, doctors have debated about the best method in which to lower a baby’s temperature. Since speed is a critical factor in the therapy’s success, the hospital used a whole-body cooling blanket designed for newborns deprived of oxygen. The blanket system is designed to quickly induce whole-body hypothermia.

A lack of oxygen to the brain causes hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. When this occurs the brain reacts to the lack of oxygen by swelling. The swelling then cuts off blood supply to the brain. As the body tries to protect the brain other organs such as the kidneys and liver can be damaged as well.

It is important to quickly cool the body in order to prevent damage because the swelling in the brain occurs over several hours before the damage becomes permanent. Lowering the body’s temperature lowers the body’s metabolism, hearth rate, and blood pressure. As a result, the swelling in the brain is reduced.

Continue reading "New whole-body cooling blanket saves newborn from birth-related brain injuries. " »

A recent study conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health found that individuals with low Apgar scores at birth were more likely to be later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The study suggests that the link between low Apgar scores and cerebral palsy is related to the damage caused to the motor control centers of the brain. This damage can occur during pregnancy, during childbirth, or even after birth.

To determine a baby’s Apgar score, the baby's muscle tone, heart rate, muscle reflex, skin coloration, and respiration are evaluated. Each factor is scored on a scale of 0 to 2, with 2 being the best score. The scores are added together and the resulting Apgar score ranges from zero to 10. This test is generally done at one and five minutes after birth, and may be repeated later if the score is and remains low. Scores 3 and below are generally regarded as critically low, 4 to 6 fairly low, and 7 to 10 generally normal.

Cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the infant’s brain that can occur before, during or shortly after birth. Exposures to radiation and infection during pregnancy have lead to cerebral palsy. Examples of these infections include rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes, and toxoplasmosis. Asphyxia (lack of oxygen) before birth, hypoxia of the brain, and birth trauma during labor and delivery also cause injury to the infant’s brain, which can lead to cerebral palsy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2 to 3 children in 1,000 are affected by brain injuries leading to cerebral palsy. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has estimated that about 800,000 individuals in the United States have cerebral palsy. Babies with cerebral palsy often have an irregular posture and may be born with other birth defects, such as spinal curvature, a small jawbone, or a small head. However, some babies born with cerebral palsy do not show obvious signs and symptoms right after birth.

Continue reading "Low Apgar Scores At Birth Linked To Cerebral Palsy" »

An $11 million settlement was recently reached in a case involving the permanent childbirth disability of young Kayla Mae McCraw, reports the Star Advertiser. Kayla was injured during childbirth in November of 2005 when miscommunications and botched operations at the Tripler Army Medical Center caused severe, lifelong physical damage.

During the birth, Kayla’s mother, Celia was under the care of an inexperienced resident doctor, who was supervised by a newly hired Tripler doctor. Throughout the day of the birth, the monitors indicated severe signs of fetal distress that became increasingly worse as the day wore on. Amazingly, both the resident doctor and the supervising doctor agreed that the child would be in “severe jeopardy” if not delivered immediately. However, because of communication problems, nothing was done for over an hour after that determination was made.

By the time that the child was actually delivered, the monitors indicated that the infant was almost dead. After birth, the doctors discovered that the mother’s umbilical cord was wrapped around the Kayla’s neck—essentially suffocating her during the last stages of labor.

But that wasn’t all.

Following the birth, a resuscitation team was called to assist the ailing newborn. One member of the team, another resident-doctor, incorrectly inserted an endotracheal tube into the stomach instead of the lungs. That mistake was not corrected for over 40 minutes. As a result, Kayla was deprived necessary oxygen for an even longer period of time.

Kayla was luckily strong enough to survive this series of blunders, but not before falling victim to severe brain damage. She now suffers from cerebral palsy and is a spastic quadriplegic. She will be forced to be fed from a tube for her entire life.

Continue reading "Federal Government Pays $11 million in Birth Injury Settlement" »

According to the Orland Sentinel, a mother who sued EVAC for injuries her son received during a premature birth has reached a settlement for $1.4 million with EVAC ambulance services. Margarita Chess was six months pregnant when she gave birth to her son, Addison, inside an ambulance owned and operated by EVAC. Addison was born with cerebral palsy and suffered brain damage.

Chess first arrived at the Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach, where a doctor decided to transfer her to Halifax medical Center in Daytona because Bert Fish Medical Center was not equipped to handle her prematurely born son. Halifax Medical Center did not accept the transfer, citing that they lacked specialists who could handle premature births.
At the trial EVAC argued that paramedics could not refuse the emergency-room doctor's order. The jury found EVAC negligent for accepting transport and for the care it provided. Originally Chess brought suit against both the hospitals and doctors but settlement was reached with EVAC for a total of $1.4 million.

Continue reading "Settlement Reached for Premature-Birth Lawsuit" »

Parents of children who suffer birth injuries now can seek post-natal treatment for their newborns to reverse brain damage. A researcher at the University of Florida has discovered that the use of cooling blankets within six hours of birth may help to reduce the effects of brain damage in infants. WPTV and the Examiner.com report that these findings come after an 18 month study that looked at how these medical devices may help babies by essentially cooling their brains. This new treatment will help babies who have suffered brain damage during birth due to a low blood supply or lack of oxygen. A lack of oxygen can occur when the placenta separates from the mother’s uterus too early, and may also occur if the umbilical cord becomes wrapped around an infant’s neck or is compressed during the birthing process. When these complications happen during birth, practitioners have very little time to extract the baby before brain damage can occur. This brain damage can lead to cerebral palsy, seizure, blindness and even death.

The cooling blankets are effective at treating newborns who are under six hours old. The babies are wrapped in the cooling blankets for 72 hours and during this time their body temperature drops to 91 degrees. This drop in body temperature reduces cerebral edema, or swelling of the brain, to prevent further damage. The treatment has proven effective in reducing death and neurological defects. This is the first treatment available to reduce brain injuries in infants.

Although the treatment is currently only available in teaching hospitals, it is promising to hear that researchers are finding ways to reduce the devastating effects of brain injuries at birth. When children suffer brain injuries at birth, the impact on both the child and its family is great. In many instances, these children must endure life-long medical treatment and care which can lead to millions in medical expenses over a lifetime. Hopefully, the number of children severely injured by brain injuries will drop with this new medical procedure.

To read more about the new treatment to reduce brain damage due to birth injuries, follow the link.

A jury recently awarded over $23 million to 5-year-old boy and his mother in a birth malpractice trial in Milwaukee that lasted over two weeks. The jury found the woman’s doctor negligent for the birth injury her son sustained during delivery in 2005. According to a report in the Journal Sentinel, the boy suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of the brain damage that he sustained during his delivery. The jury found the doctor negligent for failing to perform a C-section despite the woman’s prolonged labor and signs of distress. Instead of a C-section, the doctor ordered a medical resident to deliver the baby with forceps.

Most likely, the child’s brain damage was the result of hypoxia, or lack of oxygen. When complications arise during the labor and delivery process, it can cause a newborn’s oxygen supply to be cut off. When a child goes without sufficient oxygen for an extended period of time, this can lead to brain damage which can cause conditions like cerebral palsy. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke defines cerebral palsy as term used to describe a number of neurological disorders that affect one’s movement and coordination. The effects of cerebral palsy can range in severity, but in many instances sufferers will have to undergo lifelong medical care and treatments. In the above example, the damages will help to compensate for future medical costs as well as the loss of future potential income and pain and suffering.

To learn more about the recent birth injury verdict, follow the hyperlink.

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti have recently launched a newly-designed firm website. The Chicago personal injury website offers a number of new resources, including community pages, the Nursing Home Attorney Resource Center, a directory of commonly used legal terms and expanded practice area information.

We represent a number of individuals and families throughout Illinois who were injured or killed as a result of healthcare provider error during the birth process. Due to this, we felt it was important to expand our birth injury practice area pages to include more information for the public on some of the most common types of birth injuries. We have created new web pages specifically focused on injuries such as cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries and injuries caused by vacuum extraction. Visit our main birth injury practice area page to access our expanded pages, and also to learn why birth injury cases differ from other types of medical malpractice lawsuits. After viewing this information, feel free to contact a Chicago injury lawyer to discuss your potential claim.

A jury has awarded the family of a 12-year-old boy $18.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital and obstetrician, according to The Star-Ledger. An emergency cesarean section became necessary for his birth back in 1998, but it was unnecessarily delayed, causing brain damage and the development of cerebral palsy. Experts testified at trial that, if the procedure would have been performed just eight minutes sooner, he would not have developed the condition.

When a fetus begins showing signs of distress, such as an irregular heartbeat, it may mean that it is not getting enough oxygen. If so, it becomes critical to deliver the baby as soon as possible, usually by performing an emergency c-section. Delays in the performance of these emergency c-sections can cause serious, permanent injuries to oxygen-deprived babies, such as brain damage and cerebral palsy. Many of these delays are not only avoidable, but caused by the negligence of doctors and hospitals.

If you believe that your child suffered a birth injury as a result of a healthcare provider’s negligence, please contact us to discuss your case. Our Illinois birth injury lawyers are here to help.

A Cook County judge and mediator approved a $9.5 million settlement on behalf of a baby born with Cerebral Palsy as a result of medical malpractice, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. This Illinois birth injury occurred because a nurse failed to call a doctor after the mother began experiencing complications after arriving at the hospital in labor with her son.

The American Pregnancy Association describes how a Cerebral Palsy birth injury like this can happen. About 70% of babies with Cerebral Palsy developed the disorder as a result of complications occurring before or during birth. Maternal infections during pregnancy, insufficient oxygen reaching the fetus, and asphyxia during labor and delivery are among the most common causes of Cerebral Palsy. Furthermore, because Cerebral Palsy affects a child’s control of movement and posture, a health care team is often needed to assist a child with Cerebral Palsy throughout their lifetime. These teams can include pediatricians, rehabilitation physicians, surgeons, physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, and social workers.

The need for a specialized team of doctors often means significant expenses must be paid by the family of a Cerebral Palsy child. When this birth injury is the result of medical malpractice, a lawsuit may be a family’s best option to recover costs already spent and defray the high cost of the child’s future medical care. The Chicago birth injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti have experience representing the families of children who suffer from Cerebral Palsy as a result of doctor error. For example, they have recovered a $4.5 million settlement and a $2.3 million settlement on behalf of children who developed Cerebral Palsy because of medical malpractice.

The Daily Herald reports that a medical malpractice lawsuit resulted in a $29.1 million verdict for a boy suffering the effects of a severe birth injury. Medical malpractice occurring during the boy’s delivery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago resulted in the child’s Chicago birth injury and brain damage. The boy is now six years old and suffers from quadriplegia and Cerebral Palsy, disorders that resulted from brain injury during his birth. NBC Chicago explains that a doctor ignored an infection in the mother prior to birth, and failure to treat the infection resulted in the child being born with Cerebral Palsy. As a result of the birth injury, the boy cannot walk, talk, or eat through his mouth.

Cerebral Palsy Information explains that Cerebral Palsy is often caused by brain injury either during pregnancy, during birth or shortly after birth. Several infections during a mother’s pregnancy can severely damage a fetus’ nervous system and result in Cerebral Palsy. Quadriplegia is a form of Cerebral Palsy that affects a child’s arms and legs and causes stiff, permanently contracted muscles.

4MyChild notes that about ten to twenty percent of children with Cerebral Palsy acquired it after birth, while many more children developed it during pregnancy or at birth. Two aspects of long labor send signals to doctors that brain damage can result in a birth injury to a baby. If a baby becomes stuck in the mother’s birth canal without oxygen or a doctor does not deliver the baby within 24 hours of the mother’s water breaking, the baby is at a significantly increased risk for a birth injury. Furthermore, doctors need to pay attention to whether the mother develops a fever during pregnancy because this too can lead to brain damage.

As 4My Child explains, quick action is the key to giving birth to a healthy baby instead of one with serious birth injury consequences like Cerebral Palsy. No child should have to suffer the effects of birth injuries that occurred because of medical malpractice. When medical malpractice does occur, however, and a child suffers the life long consequences of a doctor’s negligence, our Illinois birth injury lawyers are here to help.

According to Delaware Online, a Delaware Superior Court jury recently determined that a doctor’s medical malpractice and negligent failure to treat properly treat jaundice caused a newborn baby boy to develop Cerebral Palsy. The jury awarded $6.25 million in damages to the baby’s family. The baby was born without complications, but his mother took him to see the doctor four days later when his appearance turned yellow. The doctor failed to properly treat the jaundice by not testing the baby’s bilirubin level and not doing phototherapy. Had the doctor actually done these tests, the doctor would have found toxic levels of bilirubin in the baby’s system and could have cured the baby very quickly. Instead, the baby’s illness went undiagnosed and untreated until it was too late to reverse the damage done. The baby developed Cerebral Palsy.

March of Dimes explains that Cerebral Palsy is a group of conditions that cause abnormalities in parts of the brain that control muscle movements, and Cerebral Palsy affects a person’s movement, balance and posture. Severe jaundice can cause Cerebral Palsy. Jaundice is a yellowing of the skin and eyes that results in a pigment called bilirubin building up in the bloodstream. When the levels of bilirubin become too high, such as the toxic levels found in the Delaware baby, a baby is at risk for permanent brain damage which leads to Cerebral Palsy. Severe jaundice needs to be treated quickly, such as with special lights and blood transfusions.

The Illinois birth injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti have years of experience representing clients who have suffered birth injuries, including those resulting in Cerebral Palsy. Because Cerebral Palsy leads to lifelong medical expenses and often the need for special medical care, receiving a verdict or settlement can help compensate the families affected by Cerebral Palsy. As explained to Delaware Online, the Delaware baby’s mother was “thankful the award will enable her son to receive the care that he needs”. If you believe your baby has suffered a birth injury or brain injury as a result of the negligence of medical personnel, please contact our Chicago birth injury lawyers to discuss your case.

As cerebralpalsy.org reports, Cerebral Palsy is a group of disorders that can be caused by a birth injury or brain damage later in life, and it results from the brain’s inability to control the body adequately. Cerebral Palsy affects chronic movement and posture, causing stiff or difficult movement, loss of depth perception and balance, and/or involuntary or uncontrolled movements. Approximately 10,000 babies each year in the United States will develop Cerebral Palsy, and it is estimated that 800,000 people in the United States live with the disorder. Of that number, about 2-3 children out of every 1,000 children have Cerebral Palsy.

A York Daily Record interview with Kyle Barnhart, a 19 year old college student, shows that people affected by a Cerebral Palsy birth disorder can overcome their disability and become very successful. Barnhart lives with Cerebral Palsy, and while he travels across campus in a motorized wheelchair, uses an electronic communication device to help him speak, and is assisted by aides, his life reflects that of a typical college student. Barnhart throws around a football with his friends, participates in dorm pranks and antics and regularly speaks in class. Cerebral Palsy is thought to be caused by a prenatal brain injury, but Barnhart does not have mental disabilities; in fact, he made the Dean’s List during his first semester of college.

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys represent clients who have developed Cerebral Palsy as a result of medical malpractice and doctor error. For example, we reached a $4.5 million settlement on behalf of a child who suffered brain injury leading to Cerebral Palsy because a doctor failed to perform a timely Caesarean section despite fetal distress. The Illinois birth injury lawyers at our firm also reached a $2.3 million settlement for another child who suffered a severe brain injury and Cerebral Palsy when a physician failed to perform a Caesarean section in a timely manner after the child’s mother complained of a ripping and tearing feeling in her uterus. Birth injuries, such as Cerebral Palsy, often require lifelong medical care. Verdicts and settlements reached on behalf of victims can help to compensate for lifetime medical expenses, potential loss of income and pain and suffering from these injuries. If you believe that your child suffered a birth injury as a result of a healthcare provider’s negligence, please contact us to discuss your case.

A jury recently found a medical clinic and hospital negligent and awarded $23.2 million to the family of Kylie Rodgers, a two-year-old victim of medical malpractice. Kylie suffers from numerous permanent conditions resulting from her traumatic birth in June of 2007, which will require treatment for the rest of her life, including spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, cortical impairment, neurological difficulties, and seizures.

Although it may sound large, verdict amounts such as this are not uncommon in birth injury cases, especially those involving a serious, permanent injury such as cerebral palsy, because the award has to pay for the lifetime of medical care that the injured babies require. In fact, $1.7 million of the verdict in this case was awarded just to pay for the healthcare expenses that Kylie already incurred in the first two years of her life.

Click the following link to read more about Kylie and this birth injury verdict.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School recently released a paper in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology that found the average birth weight in American newborns has dropped by two ounces. The study looked at babies born between 1990 and 2005 and noted that this was the first decline in average birth weight since the 1950s. Additionally, the study found a decrease in the number of large babies born. This is seen as a positive because it leads to fewer instances of birth trauma. A decrease in the number of babies born over the 90th percentile also reduces the occurrence of serious birth injuries that can lead to lifelong health conditions, such as cerebral palsy. Follow the link to read more about this birth weight study.

A judge has ruled that a doctor violated the standard of care and found him responsible for causing cerebral palsy in a child during a traumatic birth where the doctor had to use a vacuum extraction for almost 50 minutes. The cerebral palsy lawsuit was filed by the child’s parents and accused the doctor of medical malpractice. The judge found that the doctor had caused a serious birth injury when she tried to deliver the baby through vacuum extraction, which uses suction to pull the child’s head through the birth canal during difficult deliveries. The child is now 9 years-old and will require around-the-clock care for his entire life because of his brain damage and cerebral palsy. The doctor herself testified that it was the most disastrous delivery that she’d ever been a part of. An expert witness testified that the baby’s scalp was bobby and that he suffered a sugaleal hematoma, which occurs when blood pools between the scalp and the skin. He did not breathe for 10 minutes and suffered seizures within 24 hours of being born. The judge noted that as a result of the violation of standard of care “severe and repeated trauma as well as shoulder dystocia was inflicted” on the victim. To learn more about the cerebral palsy lawsuit, please click the link.

A $25 million jury verdict was recently awarded in a Cook County medical malpractice trial to a Chicago boy who suffers from cerebral palsy resulting from his botched birth eight years ago. Payton White was deprived of oxygen during his birth at Northwestern Memorial Hospital back in August of 2001. This caused severe brain damage which in turn led to him developing cerebral palsy. The verdict ensures that Payton will receive the extensive care and treatment that he is likely to require throughout his life.

Click on the following link for more information about this Cook County cerebral palsy verdict.

A judge has approved a $6 million birth injury settlement against a hospital on behalf of a 4-year-old who suffered injuries during his birth. The boy has cerebral palsy due to the neurological injuries he suffered during his birth at the local medical center. The settlement is the largest-ever medical malpractice settlement against this hospital. The amount reflects the costs of lifetime medical and attendant or assistive-care for the injured child as well as his inability in the future to earn income. The mother had entered the hospital for a routine birth and the doctors ignored all signs of distress during the later hours of labor and did not recognize the problem until the birth. This type of birth injury should have never occurred. To read more about the birth injury settlement, please click the link.

A settlement totaling $77,418,670 was recently reached with St. John’s Riverside Hospital for the family of a three-year-old boy who developed cerebral palsy due to unnecessary delays during birth. The medical malpractice lawsuit alleged that the hospital, and the obstetrician/genecologist who delivered the baby, failed to perform an emergency c-section despite the presence of signs that indicated that the baby was suffering from oxygen deprivation. Instead, the doctor opted for a vaginal delivery, which was alleged to have been initiated almost an hour later.

Click on the following link for more information about this $77 Million cerebral palsy settlement.

A 4-year old boy who suffered severe brain damage from birth injuries at the University of California, Davis Medical Center has reached a $5.7 million settlement with the hospital. A medical malpractice lawsuit was filed on behalf of the child alleging that the hospital’s negligence caused the boy to develop cerebral palsy. Attorneys for the University of California Board of Regents have called this the largest medical malpractice settlement paid by the university.

Read the article in the Sacramento Bee for more information on this birth injury settlement.

A jury recently awarded $43 million to a 25-year-old woman who suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of a hospital’s negligence during birth. According to an article on WTEN New 10’s website, the hospital staff failed to properly resuscitate the newborn during delivery. This critical medical error caused the plaintiff to suffer cerebral palsy, a lifelong disorder that affects movement. The family settled out of court 19 year ago with the doctor who performed the delivery; however the case against the hospital has been active since 1991. To read the full coverage of this birth injury verdict, click on the link.

One of the most serious and devastating types of birth injuries is cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a term that encompasses many disorders, all of which affect muscle control and movement. Babies can be born with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy can be caused by medical malpractice during birth, such as brain trauma or a lack of oxygen to the brain during birth. Although no two cases are exactly the same, cerebral palsy is a lifelong condition that often requires therapy, ongoing medical care, and treatment. If you believe you or a loved one has suffered cerebral palsy as a result of birth trauma or negligence by a health care provider, the birth injury attorneys of Levin & Perconti may be able to help you seek fair compensation for these injuries. To learn more about cerebral palsy or other birth injuries, follow the link to the Center for Disease Control’s website.

A research team at Wayne State University is convinced that the big solution to preventing and treating cerebral palsy may come in a small package. The husband-and-wife team consisting of chemical engineering professor, Rangaramanujam Kannan and assistant pediatrics professor Dr. Sujatha Kannan, has received a patent for using tiny polymers to attack what it considers to be the root of the disorder: inflammation in the brain.

Cerebral palsy is a condition made up of a group of motor disorders caused by brain damage that often occurs after suffering from a birth injury or an infection that develops while in the womb. Prevention of the condition has thus far proven to be very difficult because it is generally diagnosed only after the damage has already occurred.

The research team has developed tiny tree-shaped polymers called dendrimers, which range from 5-10 nanometers long (over 700 times smaller than a human red blood cell), that are used to carry medicine directly to inflamed areas in the brain. The team believes that this method, in conjunction with the identification and diagnosis of the neuroinflammation in newborns, could prevent, or at least reduce, the development of cerebral palsy. Dr. Kannan is currently able to detect such inflammation in the brains of newborn rabbits and she believes that doctors might eventually be able to do the same in human newborns. Once detected, the dendrimers could then be used to target the inflammation, which in turn could prevent the condition from developing.

For more information on using this nanotechnology to treat cerebral palsy, click here.

A $3.35 million Euro (About $4.65 Million in US currency) settlement was reached because of a birth injury that took place. The Hospital in this case failed to get proper information including information relating to the baby’s fetal heart rate and the doctor carried out a Caesarean section too late causing the birth injury. The birth injury caused asphyxiation at birth, motor dysfunction and mild cerebral palsy. To read the entire article click here “Birth Injuries”

Before birth, a baby’s lungs are filled with fluid and very little oxygen flows through them. Instead, it receives oxygen through the placenta and umbilical cord. When an infant is born, a burst of oxygen-rich blood is delivered to him or her by a pulsation of the placenta and umbilical cord until its lungs are working and supplying oxygen on their own. This surge of blood is necessary in order for the newborn’s lungs to adequately expand and supply the brain with the oxygen it needs. Without it, the baby’s lungs fail to function adequately, causing his or her blood pressure to drop. This in turn can lead to oxygen deprivation and result in lung and brain damage.

In as little as 5 minutes after birth, the umbilical cord naturally begins to clamp, halting this blood flow. The common practice of hospitals, however, is to immediately place a clamp on the cord, usually within 1 minute, and often within 30 seconds, following the baby’s birth. This deprives the baby of a continuous source of oxygen until the lungs begin functioning properly. In addition to injuring the baby’s lungs, this lack of oxygen can cause serious brain damage, leading to birth injuries such as cerebral palsy, autism, learning disorders and mental deficiency.

Click here for information about a study into the dangers of premature cord clamping and for more information about umbilical cord clamping birth injuries.

The FDA announced yesterday that it will require new warnings for Botox and all other Botulinum Toxin products. Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostriduam botulinum. It is the most toxic protein known to scientists and one of the most lethal substances to occur in nature. Although not approved for such use, it is often prescribed to children with cerebral palsy, who are injected with the drug in an effort to control limb spasticity that is associated with the disorder. The drug works by paralyzing the muscles, which restricts unwanted movement. After injection, however, the toxin can migrate to other areas of the body, including those muscles used to breathe, causing potentially deadly paralysis. The FDA stated that this adverse affect has occurred most frequently in children with cerebral palsy and that several children with the birth injury have died as a result of the treatment.

The new label requirement includes a black box warning, a type of warning that is reserved for drugs with significant risks of serious or life-threatening adverse affects.

For more information on the FDA’s Botox warning, click here.

Illinois birth injury victims may get access to treatment that was previously unavailable to them thanks to new legislation recently signed by Governor Pat Quinn. Children with cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders such as Down syndrome and autism will soon be able to get treatment thanks to a new law that requires insurance companies to pay for speech, physical and occupational therapies. Specifically, the law requires insurers to extend coverage to “habilitative treatments,” which are those intended to teach new skills and maximize functioning. The law takes effect January 1, 2010.

For more information on how this new law will help children with cerebral palsy, click here.

Earlier this week, a jury returned a verdict awarding $4 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit for birth injuries found to have been caused by a delayed c-section.

The injured baby’s mother had been pregnant with twins, but one died in utero. A few weeks later, doctors discovered that the surviving twin was in distress and determined that an emergency c-section was necessary. The operation was delayed for several hours, however, and the baby ended up being born with permanent brain damage that led to cerebral palsy and mental retardation. The award should help to guarantee that the child receives the necessary treatment that she will require for the rest of her life.

Read more about this delayed c-section case here.

When it comes to babies who are deprived of oxygen during birth, every second counts. Delays in the performance of c-sections can cause serious injuries to oxygen-deprived babies, such as brain damage and cerebral palsy. Hospitals and doctors can significantly reduce the length of c-section delays, however, by implementing quality improvement programs by doctors and hospitals, according to a new study published in this month’s issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In particular, the study found that, after 2 years of following such a program, the number of emergency c-sections that were delayed for over 30 minutes was reduced by up to 30% in some situations. These findings suggest that many devastating birth injuries could be prevented if hospitals and doctors simply implemented programs to address the delays.

Click the following link for more information about the quality improvement program study and its findings.

Scientists at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., have developed two compounds that may be effective in protecting against cerebral palsy. The findings from their experiments with rabbits suggest that the compounds may have prevented the development of the disorder, which would have otherwise developed, following a lack of oxygen to the fetus. Notably, all of the fetuses born to mother rabbits that were treated with the compounds survived, whereas, over half of those without treatment died. Perhaps most impressive is that 83% of the animals treated with one of the compounds were born without any characteristics of cerebral palsy at all. More testing is necessary before they can conclude that the compounds will work to prevent birth injuries in humans, but these findings bring hope that infants subjected to birth hypoxia, such as those who suffer umbilical cord compression during labor, need not suffer permanent brain damage.

Read more about this exciting cerebral palsy prevention breakthrough in an article published by US News & World Report.

There are serious risks, both to the mother and her baby, when having a “natural birth” after having delivered an earlier child by c-section. The procedure, known as vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC, for short), has been shown to cause serious injuries. For instance, there is a risk of the mother suffering a uterine rupture, which can be fatal to both her and her baby. There is also a chance that the VBAC will cause the baby to suffer oxygen deprivation (or birth hypoxia), leading to brain damage and cerebral palsy. These risks are compounded by doctors’ errors such as hesitation to perform the delivery or delaying a c-section. Recognizing that the decision to proceed with a VBAC may cause these birth injuries, and potentially be grounds for pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit, many doctors are now refusing to perform them, opting instead for another c-section delivery.

Read more about the risks of VBACS, and the difficulties of finding doctors willing to perform them, in an article by Time Magazine.

New research, presented at the Third International Cerebral Palsy Conference in Sydney, Australia, indicates that babies born in the breech position (feet-first) are 4 times more likely to develop cerebral palsy later in life than babies born in the normal (head-first) position. According to Diana Heggie, President of Cerebral Palsy Australia, knowing the risk factors of the developmental disorder is just as important as being aware of its current treatment.

A new study by scientists from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Danish researchers has found that babies born to mothers who develop infections while pregnant have a greater risk of having cerebral palsy. Specifically, the study found that the risk of cerebral palsy was increased by 3 to 6 times when the mother had developed infections such as urinary tract infections. This research suggests that missed or delayed diagnoses of the infections, resulting in a lack of early treatment, may cause this birth injury in some babies.

Read more about the pregnancy infection study here.

Last Friday, a jury in a medical malpractice trial awarded $4.4 million to the parents of a child who suffered a severe brain injury at birth. Three days before her scheduled induction, the mother went to the hospital with nausea and vomiting. A fetal heart monitor showed that the baby was in dire stress and in need of an emergency c-section but a nurse misread the data. This delay lead to prolonged oxygen deprivation, causing her daughter to suffer severe brain damage and later develop cerebral palsy. She died a year ago, at the age of less than 4 and a half, of complications from the disorder.

Read more about this birth injury trial here.

The umbilical cord delivers oxygen-rich blood to the fetus. During labor, the cord can become stretched or compressed, interrupting this vital flow. Umbilical cord compression is a relatively common condition, occurring about once every ten deliveries, and often transpires when the cord becomes caught between the baby’s head and the mother’s pelvic bone or when it becomes wrapped around the baby’s neck. Once this happens, the blood flow is interrupted and the level of oxygen that the baby receives begins to decrease. If the baby is deprived of oxygen for a significant amount of time, a condition called hypoxia, it can develop severe injuries including brain damage, cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, or developmental delays. Fortunately, this deprivation is detectable. The diminished blood flow can cause short and sudden decreases in the baby’s heart rate, which become visible on a fetal heart rate monitor. Often times, when this is detected, simply administered oxygen to the woman to increase the amount available to the baby is sufficient. In some cases, however, if the baby’s oxygen level is extremely low or if it begins showing other signs of distress, it is necessary to deliver the baby as soon as possible and the doctor may have to perform an emergency c-section. Under these circumstances, time is essential. Mistakes and carelessness by doctors and nurses that delay the operation amount to medical malpractice and can cause permanent brain damage to the baby.

While babies can develop cerebral palsy a number of different ways, including as a result of medical negligence during birth, premature babies have a significantly higher risk of developing the developmental disorder than babies carried full-term. In fact, about a third of all cases of cerebral palsy occur in pre-term births. Evidence from a new Cochrane Review study, however, indicates that treating women at risk of very preterm birth with magnesium sulfate may increase the baby’s chance of being born free of cerebral palsy by as much as 32 percent. The treatment was also found to decrease the chance of developing other major movement disabilities by 39 percent.

Read more about the magnesium sulfate study here.

Surviving birth may have been only half the battle for the controversial octuplets born last week to a 33-year single mother from Southern California. Although none of the infants suffered any birth injuries, they were born premature, putting them at an increased risk of developing cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders. A new study that looked at late pre-term births found that babies born between the 30th to 33rd gestation weeks may be almost 8 times more likely to have cerebral palsy than babies that were carried the full 37 weeks. The octuplets were carried just 30 weeks. The infants’ doctors have recognized their heightened risk and have stated that they will closely monitor the babies for symptoms that may develop at a later time.

To learn more about the risks facing the babies, and to read about the octuplet mother’s interview on NBC, click here.

New research indicates that infants born just a few weeks prematurely are over three times more likely to develop cerebral palsy than full-term infants. The new study, sponsored in part by the March of Dimes, found that the earlier an infant is born, the higher the risk of some neuro-developmental problems. According to the research, babies born between the 30th to 33rd gestation weeks were almost 8 times more likely to have cerebral palsy than babies that were carried full-term (37 weeks).

Read more about the study here.

She was told by both her family doctor and her obstetrician that the antidepressant she was taking, Effexor, was safe for her to continue taking through her pregnancy. Within hours of her son's birth, however, it became clear that he had suffered from a birth injury. He was admitted to the natal intensive care unit after suffering from seizures and breathing difficulties and later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Now, 3 1/2 years later, the disorder forces him into a wheelchair and he can’t hold a crayon to draw or speak properly. This mother's story should be a lesson to physicians who consider prescribing antidepressants to pregnant women.

Click here for the full article.

Cerebral Palsy is thought to occur from a brain injury suffered either by the fetus, resultant from a birth injury, or as a result of a trauma sustained by the child shortly after birth. Attempts to reduce the occurrence of medical negligence and doctor error during birth may help to reduce the rate of cerebral palsy occurring in American births. Although Cerebral Palsy is the largest developmental disability affecting children in the United States today, there is no American system for tracking the occurrence of the disability. To read more about cerebral palsy, please click here.

A medical malpractice lawsuit regarding a birth injury causing cerebral palsy has been recently filed in St. Clair County, Illinois. The suit alleges that doctors failed to appropriately resuscitate a baby after birth and did not ensure that the infant was properly intubated and monitored at St. Louis University Memorial Hospital causing brain injury. Allegedly, these medical mistakes led the baby to develop cerebral palsy, a disorder of muscle coordination and movement control that is also associated with seizures, cognitive limitations and sensory impairments. For the full story, click here.

Serious birth defects may be linked to injections of the drug Dysport, similar to popular anti-wrinkle treatment Botox. A birth injury was reported in Australia when a baby was born deaf and blind after the mother was given facial injections of Dysport during the first week of gestation. The drug, a botulinum type A toxin like Botox, has known side effects in patients such as facial paralysis, dizziness, visual disturbances, fatigue, difficulty swallowing, anxiety and hallucinations. Botox has also been linked to deaths of children with cerebral palsy in the past. For the full article, click here.

A jury awarded a child with cerebral palsy $20.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit that was filed as a result of mistakes that occurred at the time of the child’s birth. The case involved the June 2001 birth of a boy who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The family alleged that the disability was caused by damage to the brain during a four hour delay in his delivery. The medical malpractice lawsuit states that after the mother arrived at the Community Medical Center she was hooked up to a fetal monitoring system which demonstrated that the baby was in distress, yet the doctor did not arrive to deliver the child for approximately two hours, and even after his arrival, attempts were made to induce labor instead of doing an emergency caesarean section. Cerebral palsy is a motor disability which is caused by brain damage that can occur before, during or immediately after birth. The family successfully argued that the doctor and hospital’s failure to do an immediate c-section resulted in a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain, which resulted in the permanent brain damage. Cerebral palsy is a motor disability which is caused by brain damage that can occur before, during or immediately after birth. The family was able to successfully argue that the doctor and hospital’s failure to do an immediate c-section resulted in a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain, which resulted in the permanent brain damage. The boy is now 7 years old, requires 24 hour care, is unable to use his hands, is mentally retarded, blind and functions at the level of a 9 month old. The cerebral palsy malpractice lawsuit awarded the family $2 million for past expenses incurred by the parents and $18.5 million for the child’s pain and suffering, lost earning capacity and future medical expenses. To read the full story, click here.

A jury has awarded $20.5 million in a medical malpractice suit to the family of a child with lasting medical problems caused by mistakes made at his birth. The judge stated that it was the largest award in a medical malpractice case in his 10 years on the bench. The jury found the doctor and hospital negligent in their treatment of the child's mother during the delivery.

A fetal monitoring system indicated that the baby was in distress so the hospital called the doctor but he did not show up for two hours. During this delay, the baby was deprived of oxygen. After the doctor arrived, rather than performing an emergency c-section, he decided to induce labor, which forced the baby to remain oxygen-deprived. When it finally became clear to the doctor that the baby had to be removed, it was too late. The delayed c-section was finally performed nearly four hours after the mother had arrived at the hospital, after the baby had already suffered permanent brain damage. The baby was born with cerebral palsy. He is almost completely blind, has no use of his hands, has severe mental retardation. The boy is now 7 but, because of his birth injury, he functions at the level of a 6 to 9-month old.

The family will receive $2 million health care expenses and related costs. The child was awarded $18.5 million, which he will receive upon turning 18, for lost earning capacity, pain and suffering and medical expenses. Almost all of the money will be used for his care, since he will require 24-hour care for the rest of his life.

To read the full story, click here.

A Wisconsin jury awarded $11.4 million to the parents of a child born with Cerebral Palsy, and found a nurse and midwife at Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center negligent in the child’s delivery, causing the brain damage. The lawsuit alleged that the baby was deprived of oxygen due to a delay in his delivery and that the mother was administered the drug Pitocin in frequent and increased dosages without a physician’s order, in violation of hospital policy, which caused additional stress to the fetus and an abnormal contraction pattern.

The child suffers from Cerebral Palsy and other permanent personal injuries. He is not expected to ever walk or talk and requires a feeding tube. The parents state that, while the jury award cannot give their child a normal life, it will help them to provide the therapy, treatment, and accommodations that their son will need throughout his life.
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Health Canada, the agency charged with protecting and maintaining Canada’s public health, is investigating 5 deaths associated with the use of Botox to treat neck and muscle spasms. The investigation includes two children with Cerebral Palsy who died after receiving the drug. Eight other serious adverse reactions are also being investigated. The agency indicates that a likely cause of these reactions is the spread of the drug’s botulinim toxin to other parts of the patient’s body following injection.

Botulinum toxin type A, a nerve toxin contained (in minute quantities) in Botox, is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring substances and it is the most toxic protein in the world. Exposure to the toxin in significant quantities can cause Botulism, which results in severe muscle paralysis. The drug commonly known for its cosmetic use is also widely prescribed for medical purposes. Many children with Cerebral Palsy receive Botox injections to treat the symptoms associated with the disorder. While some researchers laud the drug’s effectiveness in children with Cerebral Palsy, claiming that it enhances the benefits gained from occupational therapy, others warn that any benefits may be too subtle for the patient’s family to notice with any significance.

Although the FDA has not approved Botox for the treatment of Cerebral Palsy or other spastic disorders, many physicians in the U.S. continue to prescribe the drug “off-label.” In February, 2008, the FDA issued a public health warning announcing that Botox had "been linked in some cases to adverse reactions, including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses," and it indicated that most of the severe side effects were reported among children with cerebral palsy.

In July, 2008, a California lawsuit was filed against Alergan, Inc., the manufacturer of Botox, on behalf of people who experienced adverse reactions to the drug, including serious injuries and death. The suit alleges that the Alergan violated federal regulations by marketing the drug for unapproved, or “off-label” use.

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A jury found a hospital liable for medical malpractice and awarded $4.25 million to the family of a girl who, after a traumatic birth, was born with Cerebral Palsy and brain damage. The baby’s heart rate began to drop while the mother was lying in a hospital bed but the doctor had gone home for dinner. By the time another doctor arrived and performed an emergency Cesarean Section, the baby had been deprived of oxygen for 20 minutes.

The jury found that the hospital ignored signs of fetal distress, failed to notify a doctor in time to perform a timely emergency C-Section, and that this delay caused the child’s injuries.

The jury awarded compensation for past and future medical expenses, lost future earnings and pain and suffering.

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A UK study found that prescribing antibiotics to women at risk of giving premature birth could increase the threat of their babies developing functional impairments and Cerebral Palsy. The study was aimed at testing whether the antibiotics erythromycin and co-amoxiclav would delay premature birth but a follow-up study instead revealed that the children of the women receiving the drugs had developed impairments at an increased rate. Specifically, children of women given erythromycin were found to be 18% more likely to suffer functional impairment and when women were prescribed both antibiotics their children’s risk of Cerebral Palsy nearly tripled, with 4.4% of their babies developing the impairment compared to 1.6% for mothers who were not prescribed the antibiotics.

Experts caution, however, that women with signs of infection should not feel reluctant to receive antibiotics because infections can represent serious risks and they point out that, in the study, the drugs were issued to women with no signs of infection.

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