Cerebral Palsy and Lawsuits

If you've read about individuals filing lawsuits because their child developed cerebral palsy, it was likely that medical negligence was a factor in that child's injury. Cerebral palsy is a condition that results directly from a brain injury. The brain injury can be caused in several different ways.

In some cases, baby brain damage occurs within the womb. In these cases, there is very little that can be done other than to provide for the comfort of the child and their treatments. Sometimes, cerebral palsy is caused by brain injury that happens a long time after the child was born, and may or may not be the result of medical negligence. The lawsuits you may have read about generally have to do with children who suffer CP as a result of the medical staff or the hospital they were born at being negligent during their birth. The parents sometimes sue for financial reasons. Treating cerebral palsy can be extremely expensive. While it cannot be cured, there are a range of assistive devices, cognitive and physical therapies and other resources that can significantly improve the quality of life for the affected individual.

Because the symptoms of cerebral palsy become more severe with time, in some cases, it's generally worth it for the parents to look into filing a lawsuit to see if they can get some assistance paying for those treatments via a jury award or settlement. In some cases, medical negligence is simply not a factor in the child's condition and there will be no suit to file. In other cases, it may be very apparent that medical negligence played a significant role in the child suffering the brain damage that led to cerebral palsy and the parent's lawyers may want them to press forward with the suit.

There are attorneys who work under an arrangement called a contingency. This means that they meet with their clients to determine whether or not they have a case and then work with those clients for free. The only way the attorney actually gets paid is if they win the claim. For parents who are already having a hard time with money because of the medical expenses they're facing, this is oftentimes the best arrangement possible. Contingency arrangements do not equate to a diminished quality of service. In fact, some of the best and most successful lawyers prefer to work under this arrangement.