Families Could Need a Cerebral Palsy Lawyer

Kahn Gauthier Swick is investigating any cerebral palsy injury on behalf of the parents of children who suffered cerebral palsy injury due to medical negligence during the birthing process. A cerebral palsy lawyer can file legal action against the doctors and nurses who participated in the cerebral palsy injury, and sometimes also the medical facility at which the cerebral palsy injury delivery took place. The parents' claims in the cerebral palsy injury assert that the defendants were negligent--that they failed to adhere to the standard of care that is required when assisting in a birth.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a term used broadly to describe a number of movement disorders resulting from prenatal developmental abnormalities or brain damage occurring during birth or before age five. Cerebral palsy results from faulty development of, or damage to, the "motor" areas of the brain, which are responsible for controlling movement.

Approximately 500,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. More than 5,000 children (between 0.1% and 0.2% of all children), the vast majority of whom are babies or infants, are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year. Contact us for a free cerebral palsy case evaluation by a lawyer. Premature infants are at a much higher risk for developing cerebral palsy than full-term babies, and the risk increases as the birth weight decreases. Between five and eight percent of infants weighing less than 1500 grams (3 pounds) at birth develop cerebral palsy, and infants weighing less than 1500 grams are 25 times more likely to develop cerebral palsy than infants who are born at full term weighing more than 2500 grams.

Cerebral palsy can result from a multitude of causes. Birth trauma and lack of oxygen during the birthing process may cause 15% of the cases. Trauma to the baby's head due to improper use of forceps or a vacuum extractor at the time of delivery can cause bleeding in the brain, resulting in cerebral palsy. Contact us for a free cerebral palsy case evaluation by a lawyer. Other possible causes of cerebral palsy include Rh incompatibility and rubella (German measles).

Early signs of cerebral palsy usually appear before three years of age. Infants with cerebral palsy are frequently slow to reach developmental milestones such as learning to roll over, sit, crawl, smile, or walk.

Types of Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy syndromes are grouped into four main categories: spastic, athetoid, ataxic, and mixed forms. Spastic syndromes occur in about 70% of cases. The spasticity is due to upper motor neuron involvement and may mildly or severely affect motor function. The cerebral palsy syndrome may produce hemiplegia (paralysis on one side of the body), paraplegia (paralysis of both legs), quadriplegia (paralysis of both legs and both arms), or diplegia (paralysis of both arms). Affected limbs usually are underdeveloped and show increased deep tendon reflexes and muscular hypertonicity, weakness, and a tendency toward contractures.

Athetoid or dyskinetic cerebral palsy syndromes occur in about 20% of cases and result from basal ganglia involvement. Slow, writhing, involuntary movements may affect the extremities (athetoid) or the proximal parts of the limbs and the trunk (dystonic); abrupt, jerky, distal movements also may occur. The movements increase with emotional tension and disappear during sleep. Dysarthria occurs and is often severe.

Ataxic syndromes occur in about 10% of cases and result from involvement of the cerebellum or its pathways. Weakness, lack of coordination, and intention tremor produce unsteadiness, a wide-based gait, and difficulty with rapid or fine movements. Contact us for a free cerebral palsy case evaluation by a lawyer.

Mixed forms of cerebral palsy are common--most often, spasticity and athetosis; less often, ataxia and athetosis.

Convulsive seizures occur in about 25% of patients, most often in those with cerebral palsy spasticity. Children with cerebral palsy spastic hemiplegia or paraplegia frequently have normal intelligence; cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia and mixed forms often are associated with disabling mental retardation. Short attention span and hyperactivity are common.

The brain damage which causes cerebral palsy remains permanent from the time of injury. There is no cure for cerebral palsy, and it is not contagious. The goal is for patients to develop maximal independence within the limits of their motor and associated handicaps. With proper management, many patients, especially those with spastic paraplegia or hemiplegia cerebral palsy , can lead near-normal lives. Complete social independence is not realistic for others, who will require varying degrees of lifelong supervision and assistance.

File a claim today, contact a Cerebral Palsy lawyer.