Georgia Cerebral Palsy Resources
Call 1-855-833-3707 and Speak With a Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Lawyer Today.
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder caused by injury or malformation of a child’s brain, usually resulting from a birth injury. Cerebral palsy usually manifests itself in difficulty with muscle control, coordination, movement, and even speech. While cerebral palsy cannot be “cured,” there are several treatment options geared toward managing or diminishing the physical limitations associated with CP.
Georgia Cerebral Palsy Legal Help
Raising a child with cerebral palsy can place an enormous amount of financial strain on any family, but if your child’s injuries were the result of medical malpractice, your family may be owed compensation.
Birth injury claims can be difficult to bring in Georgia, and there are often hurdles to bringing such a claim. In order to have your best chance at winning your claim, you really need an attorney on your side who has experience with cerebral palsy birth injury cases.
To discuss your situation and the legal options which may be available to you and your family, call us for a free consultation today at 1-855-833-3707 or email us using the contact form found on this page.
Common Causes of Cerebral Palsy
While cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the developing brain, there are many underlying reasons why such brain damage may have occurred, including:
- Oxygen Deprivation — A child requires a steady supply of oxygen in the moments leading up to its birth. If this is interfered with by way of a uterine rupture, preeclampsia, placental abruption, a nuchal chord, or asphyxiation, brain cell death follows shortly after.
- Prenatal Infections — If an infection such as herpes simplex, chorioamnionitis, group B strep, or even a simple urinary tract infection isn’t caught in a timely manner, it might move to the child’s brain, interfering with normal brain development, leading to the development of cerebral palsy.
- Trauma to a Child’s Head — Head trauma caused by the forceful or unnecessary use of vacuum extraction or delivery forceps can lead to bleeding within the brain cavity, resulting in the death of brain cells associated with movement and coordination.
- Failure to Treat Hyperbilirubinemia — Failing to treat newborn children showing signs of mild jaundice can lead to the development of kernicterus, which often results in brain damage leading to cerebral palsy.
Many cases of cerebral palsy in Georgia could have been prevented if doctors had taken adequate precautions. This includes determining the size and position of the child, determining whether or not to perform a C-section, monitoring the heartbeats of both the mother and child, as well as accurately interpreting lab results to catch known risk factors to the mother before it leads to a life-threatening situation.
Cerebral Palsy Can Be a Costly Condition
As mentioned above, cerebral palsy is a motor disorder. The parts of the brain which instruct limbs to move in a certain way don’t work as they should due to malformation of the brain, resulting in stiff (spastic/hypertonic) or floppy (hypotonic) muscle tone. The symptoms can be mild or severe, and can even result in problems with vision, speech, hearing, swallowing, and bladder control.
Children born with cerebral palsy may not reach developmental milestones as easily as their peers. They may have a hard time navigating through spaces on their own, often requiring crutches or a wheelchair, and they will have to undergo physical therapy in order to learn how to better control their movements.
All this costs a lot of money for any American family, which is why it’s advisable to discuss your case with a Georgia cerebral palsy attorney to learn the options available to you and your family. Through a birth injury claim, you may be able to recover the compensation you’ve lost as a result, as well as the compensation your child will need for future medical care, assistive devices, treatment, and more. Call our cerebral palsy lawyers today for a free consultation at 1-855-833-3707.