Cerebral Palsy Lawyer | Three Facts About CP and Medical Negligence

Cerebral palsy in infants is sometimes the direct result of medical negligence. When this is the case, the parents sometimes elect to file a lawsuit for damages. This allows the parents to, in some cases, collect compensation that can help them pay for the cost of the medical treatments that the child will need. There are some things that you need to understand before you start investigating whether or not you want to file one of these lawsuits.

1. Cerebral Palsy Sometimes Occurs Naturally

There are cases where cerebral palsy occurs and where nobody is to blame for it. This is determined by conducting an investigation into the causes of that cerebral palsy injury that your child suffered. This investigation is very detailed and involves medical scanning, laboratory testing, and other investigative activities that allow doctors to determine when and how the injury actually occurred. If medical negligence seems to be the cause, this is when you want to speak to an attorney.

2. Not only Doctors Can Be Held Liable

The doctors are not the only party that can be held liable for medical negligence. In fact, the healthcare facility where the child was born and the nurses that attended the birth can also be held liable for medical negligence. Your attorney will help you determine where the blame lays and will help you to determine exactly who you will be filing a lawsuit against. Most often, however, the lawsuit is filed against the physician that gave prenatal care and that gave care during the birthing process.

3. No Guarantees

No ethical and competent attorney will tell you that you are going to win a case. They will tell you that they believe you have a good chance of winning your case and, in fact, they will not take your case and less they feel that this is the reality of the situation. The ideal situation is to work with a cerebral palsy lawyer that works on contingency. This means that they don't get paid unless they win your claim. These lawyers also offer free consultations, so you can meet with them to determine what they think about your case. Be sure you take action quickly, however. There are statutes of limitations on how long you have to file a claim, so you want to ask an attorney about this, at the very least, if you're considering filing an action against the physician or the healthcare facility where your child was born.