Birth Injury Attorney | Basic Cerebral Palsy Facts

Basic Cerebral Palsy Facts

Cerebral palsy affects approximately 800,000 people in the United States alone. The disorder affects approximately 10,000 individuals every year. The disorder is caused by a birth injury that involves the brain. Cerebral palsy causes problems with the muscles and oftentimes causes problems with learning and mental development. It has several different possible causes.

Cerebral palsy is caused by baby brain damage that results from a lack of oxygen. In CP victims, the parts of the brain that allow them to control their muscles are affected. Many of these individuals end up needing wheelchairs and some of them have little mobility at all. The amount of control they have over their muscles determines, to a great extent, how much care they need. Some individuals with CP manage to get around quite well using crutches and wheelchairs. Others need an assistant at all times. In the latter case, of course, the expenses can be very high.

Cerebral palsy’s effects on hearing and speech can also be quite challenging for the individual affected. Some children with cerebral palsy will never speak and others will be able to learn how to accommodate their problems with speech through therapy. Like all injuries, the injuries that cause CP can be of differing severities. In some cases, the injury is caused when the child becomes starved of oxygen in the womb. In others, the child may be strangled by the umbilical cord or doctors will fail to notice that some other problem is depriving the child of oxygen. In any case, when it could have been prevented, negligence may be an issue.

To determine whether or not it was, you’ll have to go to court. There is a chance, however, that the party you’re suing may decide to pay you a settlement so they can avoid having to go to trial themselves. There’s no way to ensure that any case will win, but a lawyer is the person you need to tell whether or not it’s worth pursuing your case. Lawyers sometimes take these cases without requiring that you pay them upfront under a contingency agreement.

Whatever legal counsel you choose, make sure they have experience with these cases. Medicine is obviously complex and you need a lawyer who understands its complexities to put together the most effective case. A lawyer working on contingency who doesn’t win your case does not take payment.