Florida Cerebral Palsy Lawyers
Vero Beach, FL
There are few things more exciting than welcoming a new baby into your home. If your child is later diagnosed with a condition like cerebral palsy, it can be devastating. If that diagnosis was caused by medical negligence, you might be able to file a lawsuit against the healthcare professional responsible for the injury.
Cerebral palsy can be caused by brain damage that is often linked to medical malpractice during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or after a baby is born. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you might be able to pursue legal action against the doctor, hospital, or other medical providers who committed a medical error. Our law firm can help advocate for your family and seek justice for your child’s birth injury.
Gould Cooksey Fennell represents individuals and families whose lives have been affected by medical malpractice. We offer free initial consultations and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. Reach out to our law offices today to talk to a Florida birth injury attorney about your case.
Effects of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy – also referred to as CP – is a group of movement disorders that affect movement and posture. It is caused by brain damage, often before a baby is born. A person may have different symptoms of cerebral palsy depending on the severity and type of CP.
Cerebral palsy can affect movement and coordination, speech and eating, and development. Common symptoms of cerebral palsy include:
- Spasticity, which includes stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes;
- Rigidity, or stiff muscles with regular reflexes
- Variations in muscle tone (too stiff or too floppy)
- Ataxia, or lack of balance and muscle coordination
- Tremors
- Slow, writhing movements
- Favoring one side of the body
- Difficulty walking
- Trouble with fine motor skills
- Delays in speech development
- Difficulty speaking
- Drooling and/or challenges with swallowing
- Difficulty sucking, chewing, or eating
- Delays in reaching motor skills milestones
- Intellectual disabilities
- Learning disabilities
- Delayed growth
- Vision and/or hearing limitations
- Bladder and bowel issues
- Seizures
- Mental health conditions
- Pain or trouble feeling sensations
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These symptoms can be relatively mild or more severe. For some people, cerebral palsy affects the whole body, while others may only experience symptoms in one or two limbs or one side of the body.
There is no cure for cerebral palsy. However, there are treatments that can help to improve your child’s functions and reduce pain and other symptoms. This may include:
- Medications to reduce muscle tightness, treat pain, and manage complications related to spasticity
- Therapies, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, and speech and language therapy
- Surgery to lessen muscle tightness or correct bone changes
In many cases, the symptoms of cerebral palsy do not appear until a baby is one or two years old. Early intervention and treatment can often help your child live the fullest life possible.
Can Cerebral Palsy Be Caused by Medical Malpractice?
Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the developing brain or by irregular brain development. Typically, this irregular development or brain damage happens before a baby is born, but may also occur at birth or in early infancy.
Although the exact cause of cerebral palsy isn’t always known, there are several potential causes of cerebral palsy. This includes:
- Maternal infections that may affect a fetus include rubella, toxoplasmosis, and certain sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
- Infant infections or illnesses that cause swelling in or around the brain, including bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis, and untreated jaundice
- Stroke, which interrupts the blood supply to a baby’s developing brain and causes bleeding into the brain
- Lack of oxygen to the brain during labor and delivery
- Genetic conditions
- Traumatic head injury after birth
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Some of these causes – such as genetic conditions – are things that may just happen. In other situations, however, cerebral palsy is caused by medical negligence during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or immediately after birth.
For example, if a doctor fails to monitor and treat a mother for any infections that occur when she is pregnant, it could be a form of medical malpractice. Similarly, if a baby develops an infection and a doctor does not properly diagnose and treat it, that could be a sign of medical negligence.
Mistakes made during labor and delivery may also be considered medical malpractice. This includes delaying a necessary cesarean section (C-section), failing to monitor and respond to signs of fetal distress, and misusing forceps or vacuum extractors. Any of these errors could cause brain damage that leads to a cerebral palsy diagnosis.
As noted above, the exact cause of cerebral palsy isn’t always known. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and you suspect it may have been caused by medical malpractice, our Vero Beach birth injury lawyers can help. During a free initial consultation, we will listen to your story and offer you advice on your legal rights and options.
Settlements and Compensation in Cerebral Palsy Lawsuits
When you discover that your child has a condition like cerebral palsy, the last thing on your mind may be filing a lawsuit. Taking legal action won’t make your family whole again, but it can help to provide the financial resources necessary to ensure that your child gets the best possible care. A child with cerebral palsy will require a lifetime of treatments. Filing a lawsuit can help your family get money to cover these expenses.
Florida has a unique system for handling severe birth injury claims. Families can seek compensation without having to prove fault on the part of the medical provider. The Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA) provides compensation for neurological injuries that occur during birth. NICA provides an initial payment of $250,000 for medical expenses related to eligible birth injuries plus ongoing benefits.
If eligible for NICA, then participation is mandatory. Otherwise, you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit for birth injuries like cerebral palsy. Compensation in a lawsuit may include money for:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Travel expenses
- Lost wages that you may sustain as parents while taking care of your child
- Reduced earning capacity and lost wages for your child with cerebral palsy
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
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Together, this is known as compensatory damages. It includes both economic damages for direct financial losses (like medical bills) as well as non-economic damages for intangible losses (like mental anguish). If a doctor acted intentionally or recklessly, you may also be entitled to punitive damages, capped at the greater of 3 times compensatory damages or $500,000.
Depending on the facts of your case, a settlement or verdict at trial for a birth injury lawsuit can be quite substantial. Our experienced Vero Beach cerebral palsy lawyers can help you determine the best course of action for your family. We will then fight for your right to full compensation.Â
Filing a Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Lawsuit
Not every case of cerebral palsy was caused by medical negligence. However, medical records and other evidence may demonstrate that your child would not have suffered brain damage but for a medical error, like not diagnosing and treating an infection or not intervening soon enough when a baby is in distress during labor.
Generally, you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida if your doctor failed to provide the level of care that a competent doctor with similar skill and training would have provided. In birth injury cases, this means that the obstetrician-gynecologist did not meet the standard of care for ob-gyns.Â
To win a cerebral palsy birth injury lawsuit, you will have to prove that the doctor or other medical professional was negligent in some way. This requires introducing evidence of four elements:
- Duty: the doctor owed you and your child a duty to use an ordinary standard of care, skill, and treatment
- Breach: the doctor violated their duty of care in some way
- Causation: you and/or your child suffered an injury that was caused by this violation
- Damages: you and/or your child suffered harm as a result.
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Most personal injury lawsuits – including medical malpractice claims – are based on a theory of negligence. In some cases, a doctor may have acted intentionally or recklessly (such as by showing up to a delivery intoxicated). If your child’s cerebral palsy diagnosis was caused by intentional or reckless conduct, you can still file a lawsuit against the doctor.
Proving that your child’s cerebral palsy was caused by medical negligence can be challenging, especially when it isn’t always easy to pinpoint a cause for CP. After a free initial consultation, your lawyer will get to work reviewing medical records and interviewing witnesses. They will also consult with experts in the field – typically, other ob-gyns – who can offer insight into what might have gone wrong to cause the brain damage that led to the cerebral palsy diagnosis.Â
In Florida, a medical professional from the same field or specialty as the doctor that you are suing must either testify or sign a sworn affidavit stating that an injury was caused by a failure to provide adequate medical care and treatment. Our law firm works with medical professionals who can assist with reviewing medical records and who can provide their expert opinion on the cause of your child’s cerebral palsy.
Doctors carry malpractice insurance and are represented in these cases by their insurance company. It is important to understand that these insurance companies have a specific goal of either denying a birth injury claim outright or paying out as little as possible. The best way to protect yourself and your child is by working with a skilled Vero Beach cerebral palsy attorney. Our law offices will advocate for you and fight for your right to full compensation.
How Do I File a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?
Medical malpractice lawsuits follow a different procedure under Florida law, so it is important that you work with an experienced Vero Beach birth injury lawyer on your claim. Generally, your attorney will have to provide a pre-suit notice to the responsible medical professional with an affidavit from a medical expert verifying that the claim has merit. They then have 90 days to decide if they want to settle your claim. If not, then you must file a lawsuit within 60 days.
This process is more complex than a standard personal injury lawsuit in Florida. If you are unsure of your rights, contact Gould Cooksey Fennell today to talk to a member of our legal team about your case.
What Types of Evidence Will Support My Birth Injury Claim?
While each case is unique, there are certain kinds of evidence that are useful to prove that your child’s cerebral palsy was caused by medical negligence. This may include notes from prenatal check-ups, sonogram images, results from prenatal tests and procedures, blood test results for mother and baby, X-ray, CT, and MRI images of your child, and your child’s medical records. Medical bills and pay stubs can also be used to show the extent of your losses.
At Gould Cooksey Fennell, we are adept at gathering the kind of information necessary to prove a medical malpractice claim. Contact our law offices today to schedule a consultation with a Vero Beach cerebral palsy attorney.
If Your Child Has Been Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Don’t Hesitate to Call.
A cerebral palsy diagnosis can be difficult for parents to digest. It can be especially difficult if you believe that it may have been caused by a preventable medical error. In this situation, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the healthcare provider who committed medical negligence.
Based in Vero Beach, Gould Cooksey Fennell represents families whose children have been diagnosed with birth injuries like CP. We treat each client with compassion while fighting for their right to full compensation. We will work hard to make sure that your family gets the money that you deserve. To learn more or to schedule a free consultation with a Florida cerebral palsy attorney, give us a call at 772-758-8756 or fill out our online contact form.
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A 52 year old man arrived at a hospital ER with a UTI, resulting in negligent, non-emergency intubation that caused the catastrophic anoxic brain injury leading to his death. After a trial involving complex medical and technical issues relating to critical care medicine, infectious disease, hospital administration, and electronic medical record systems, the family obtained a wrongful death settlement of $31.9 million.
Medical Negligence claim arising out of a breach in the standard of care by failing to follow physician’s orders and hospital policies with regard to timely assessments of the Plaintiff and her vital signs; failing to recognize signs of respiratory distress; and failing to follow hospital policies regarding recording and disposal of PCA morphine.
Trial arising from failure to diagnosis colon perforation after a laparoscopic hysterectomy surgery causing permanent injury to the Plaintiff. After a three week trial a Martin County jury rejected the Defendants’ position finding the hospital 70% responsible for Mrs. Moore’s damages and the physician 30% responsible. The award included just over $600,000 for past medical expenses, $370,000 in future medical care, and non-economic damages of almost $2 million.
Gould Cooksey Fennell served as Co-Counsel in a Georgia case involving alleged misdiagnosis/mistreatment of preeclampsia resulting in the death of a 39 year old mother.
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