My child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. How can I tell whether it was caused by medical malpractice or if the hospital doctors did something wrongand that led tomy child'scerebral palsy or brain injury?

 

A: Cerebral palsy and brain damage are sometimes due to medical malpractice or negligence, other times they are not.  The first step in evaluating whether a baby suffered brain damage or cerebral palsy from a birth injury (sometimes called birth trauma) is to obtain all of the medical records for the prenatal care, labor and delivery, NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and follow up care.

Most lawyers representing families and children in medical malpractice cases will then usually have the medical records evaluated by experts.  Oftentimes, an evaluation is required by experts in different specialties, such as obstetrics, maternal fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatric neurology, etc.  

This is necessary to determine whether the doctor, nurse or hospital did not provide medical care that met the standard of care (essentially what a reasonable, prudent healthcare provider would have done in the same or similar circumstances), and if that failure to meet the standard of care caused the child's cerebral palsy or brain damage.   




Cerebral Palsy can be a devastating injury to a baby, with brain damage, paralysis and developmental delay.  Every child is different, so call us to get more information or to investigate whether your child's cerebral palsy was caused by preventable medical malpractice.