Chicago Cerebral Palsy Lawyer
Helping Clients in Cook County Recover in Cerebral Palsy-Related Claims
Early in our firm’s history, we recognized that a birth injury case pits a newborn or small child against the infinite resources of the medical and insurance industries.
Our commitment is to ensure that children have advocates with the support and skills necessary to bring them justice. We have effectively combined our resources with some of the nation’s most skilled trial lawyers and medical consultants.
On This Page:
- How Common Are Cerebral Palsy Injuries in the U.S.?
- Types of Cerebral Palsy
- What Causes Cerebral Palsy?
- What Are the Detectable Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy?
- Costs Associated With Cerebral Palsy
- Who Should Be Held Responsible for Cerebral Palsy?
- What Compensation Can I Receive for a Cerebral Palsy Injury?
- How Do I Choose a Cerebral Palsy Lawyer?
- We Fight for Children’s Rights Across the Nation
Is your child suffering from cerebral palsy? Our Chicago Cerebral Palsy lawyers have successfully obtained a $144 million jury award for a cerebral palsy-related claim. Call Beam Legal Team, LLC today at (866) 404-5221 or contact us online to get started!
How Common Are Cerebral Palsy Injuries in the U.S.?
About 1 in 345 children in the United States have cerebral palsy. 1 to more than four babies per 1,000 children worldwide suffers from a form of CP.
The types of cerebral palsy that can be diagnosed are:
- Spastic Cerebral Palsy: This is the most common type of cerebral palsy that occurs, impacting roughly 70 to 80 percent of those who experience CP. Typically, this has hypertonia effects, which impact movements in the child, causing them to exaggerate movements greatly or jerk about. Some of the symptoms include awkward reflexes and stiffness in certain parts of the body. It’s caused by damage to the brain’s motor cortex. If the right side is injured, the left side of the body would experience problems, and if the left side of the motor cortex is injured, the right side of the body is affected.
- Athetoid Cerebral Palsy: This type of cerebral palsy occurs in roughly 10% of cases and causes problems with involuntary movement in your baby’s face, limbs, and torso. Some of the common symptoms include stiffness in the body, limbs that appear floppy, posture issues, and trouble eating.
- Spastic Quadriplegic Palsy: Typically, balance and coordination are impacted in children with ataxic cerebral palsy, but only a small percentage of cases occur. Some of the symptoms you may recognize include speech problems, issues with depth perception, and shakiness.
- Mixed Cerebral Palsy: This occurs very rarely (less than 10% of cases), and the baby often exhibits symptoms associated with multiple types of cerebral palsy. This is displayed in various characteristics that would identify multiple brain injuries occurring.
What Causes Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy can result from incidents in the baby’s brain before birth, during labor, or immediately after birth while the newborn’s brain is still being developed. In some tragic cases, the injury results from medical or nursing malpractice.
Unlike adults, newborns need oxygen and other nutrients to sustain life and prevent serious injury.
There are three common factors that will determine how brain injury impacts the child’s motor functioning skills:
- The nature of the brain injury
- Where the damage occurs
- The severity of the injury
At Beam Legal Team, we have successfully represented children permanently injured during labor and delivery or immediately after birth.
Symptoms of cerebral palsy will depend on where the brain was impacted and the level of damage caused. Cerebral palsy is generally evident when a child begins to communicate or move, typically around six months old.
Here are some of the common types of brain damage that can result:
- Delays in mobility, such as crawling or sitting
- Restricted range of motion
- Difficulty with coordination or balance
- Impaired reflexes
- Seizures
- Inability to stand upright
- Difficulty controlling the bladder or bowels
When a child reaches six years old, the extent of cerebral palsy should have been diagnosed. In addition, the type of cerebral palsy should be detectable as well.
Caring for a child with special needs, such as cerebral palsy, carries several costs.
Some of these costs are recurring:
- Food
- Medicine
- Other consumables that must be purchased monthly
- The lifetime cost of care
However, the immediate costs of items such as accessible housing, wheelchairs, and a vehicle equipped to handle a wheelchair are much higher. Modifications to an existing residence to make it accessible to someone in a wheelchair can run into the tens of thousands of dollars; a simple electric wheelchair can cost five to ten thousand dollars.
The cost of a van to handle transportation of a child with cerebral palsy can be even more than these costs; a van itself can be anywhere from $5,000 to $60,000; the modifications can add ten to twenty thousand dollars on top of that amount.
Many families are not equipped to put up these kinds of up-front costs and may not have insurance to help. Medicaid coverage often does not cover the costs of some of the more expensive modifications that must be made to make a house or vehicle access.
Some grants are available in some states to assist those with children with cerebral palsy in acquiring items such as an accessible vehicle.
The birth injury of cerebral palsy will likely require lifelong adaption for the entire family. This can include the costs of therapy for the child, home care, and medical devices.
If a medical care professional has failed to live up to their requirement to provide reasonable care to the mother and child, they can be held liable for the damages. Care providers can also be held accountable for the mistakes of their employees.
- Past and future medical care, including doctor’s visits, hospitalizations, emergency room visits, surgeries, rehabilitation, and medication
- The cost of therapies for your child, including recreational therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy.
- Rehabilitation costs
- The cost of mobility equipment, assistive technology, assistive equipment, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, and adaptive vehicles like vans
- The cost of home health care
- Future loss of income
- The cost of tutors and special education
- Any other monetary damages caused by cerebral palsy
With the help of our cerebral palsy lawyers in Chicago, you can identify your child’s birth injury, help you file a birth injury claim, and take the first step toward financial compensation. Our legal team is equipped to investigate your child’s case and fight for your rights, so get in touch with us today.
When it comes to handling your cerebral palsy case, it is crucial that you have an experienced Chicago cerebral palsy lawyer by your side. However, not all attorneys are made equal, and choosing an attorney with experience and background is essential.
Here are some helpful hints for finding the right lawyer to support your family and fight for financial compensation:
- Find a lawyer who specializes in cerebral palsy and other birth injury cases
- Check their reviews to get opinions from others who have previously worked with them
- Look for a professional and informational website so you can trust their knowledge
- Look at their past verdicts and success stories
Overall, you want an attorney with a reputation for obtaining exceptional results. Our firm is known for relentlessly seeking justice, and we want to fight for you.
We Fight for Children’s Rights Across the Nation
If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, we recommend you contact a Chicago cerebral palsy attorney at Beam Legal Team. Brain injuries as a result of birth trauma can cause cerebral palsy.
Another cause of cerebral palsy can be oxygen or blood deprivation to the brain in a condition known as Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE).
Here’s what you need to know about cerebral palsy:
- Cerebral palsy is a combination of disorders that affect body position, movement, and muscle coordination.
- Cerebral refers to the brain, while palsy derives from a Greek term meaning “lack of muscle control.”
A cerebral palsy diagnosis can mean a lifetime of expensive care and treatment for your child. Depending upon the severity of the condition, intensive therapy may be able to help bring about positive change.
The cost of treatment can be astronomical, putting a heavy strain on your family. Our firm will investigate the circumstances preceding your child’s cerebral palsy.
We will be able to recognize the signs of negligence or incompetence that may have led to the condition. When found, you can feel confident that we will aggressively seek compensation for your child to help relieve your family’s financial burden.
Cases We Have Handled
We have handled cases where medical professionals failed to perform a timely cesarean section in the following situations:
- The baby was too big
- The baby was becoming hypoxic during labor and delivery
- The baby was becoming ischemic during labor and delivery
- The baby was not developing normally and should have been delivered sooner
- The fetal heart was experiencing decelerations
- The mother was experiencing preeclampsia and/or hypertension
- Gestational diabetes and a “big baby”
- The mother’s contractions were too intense and coming too quickly, not allowing the baby enough time to reperfuse.
- The premature rupture of membranes and a suspected infection
- The abruption of the placenta from the uterine wall
- A breached baby or abnormal position of the baby in utero
- Placenta previa
- A twin birth
- Improper use of forceps or a vacuum
We have also assisted clients when doctors and nurses failed to diagnose or treat:
- Seizures in the newborn nursery or NICU
- Hypoglycemia in the newborn nursery or NICU
- Polycythemia in the newborn nursery or NICU
- Hypovolemia in the newborn nursery or NICU
- Micrognathia or feeding disorders in the newborn nursery or NICU
- Infection in the newborn nursery or NICU
A child with cerebral palsy can be challenging and stressful to parents and family. It requires a high level of care, which can be costly and add financial stress to an already difficult situation.
If the injury to your child was caused by substandard medical care by your hospital or doctor, you may be entitled to financial compensation to help with past and future medical costs, as well as the other damages that are part of any tragic birth injury case. Beam Legal Team advocates for the rights of injured children to obtain justice in a court of law.
We’ve Helped Families Like Yours
Our Chicago cerebral palsy attorneys are devoted to helping families deal with legal battles involving their injured children who had their lives impacted by a negligent medical practitioner.
Here are some verdicts and settlements we’ve achieved for families like yours:
- $144,585,020 Verdict – Our team accomplished one of the highest birth injury verdicts in the history of America. The medical staff failed to estimate the baby’s weight and mixed up two patients! The child wasn’t delivered through C-section, although it should have been, resulting in severe injuries.
- $53,000,000 Verdict – We achieved this verdict after no practicing doctor detected that the unborn baby was not breathing. A cesarean section wasn’t performed for 12 hours after the mother went to the hospital after noticing her baby was not moving much.
- $11,000,000 Settlement – This settlement was achieved in a case involving a baby in fetal distress resulting in brain damage and cerebral palsy. The doctors and nurses confused the baby’s heart rate for the mother’s.
- $7,000,000 – In this case, that was settled for $7 million, the failure to interpret the heart rate monitor and deliver the baby sooner resulted in cerebral palsy.
Contact Our Cerebral Palsy Attorney Today
When the brain is injured at or near the time of birth, a child may become mentally disabled. If you observed abnormal signs in your newborn and your doctor is not providing the answers you are seeking, you should immediately consult with our firm.
Contact Beam Legal Team, LLC today to schedule a FREE consultation with our cerebral palsy lawyer in Chicago!
Additional reading
FAQs
How can a lack of oxygen during labor cause cerebral palsy?
During labor, oxygen is supplied to the unborn baby through the placenta from the mother’s circulation. If there are too many contractions, if too much Pitocin* is being used, or if there is not enough rest in between contractions, the baby may not get enough oxygen. If the doctors and nurses fail to detect those problems, the baby can become hypoxic (a lack of oxygen).
*Even the manufacturer of Pitocin warns of its potential danger of brain damage if used improperly; yet doctors and nurses continue to cause brain damage to unborn babies by injudicious use of Pitocin.
My child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. What does this mean?
Cerebral palsy can be caused by damage to the brain that affects muscular, coordination, and motor skills. It can be caused by trauma or a lack of oxygen or blood flow during birth or in the neonatal period. The cost of care for a child with cerebral palsy can extend throughout life. Each case must be evaluated individually.
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