Birth Injury & Cerebral Palsy Attorneys in Jacksonville

Serving Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, and clients throughout Florida

The excitement and experience of becoming a new parent can be significantly impacted when you discover signs and symptoms that your new child is suffering from medical conditions. This is made even more difficult when you realize that these conditions may be associated with a doctor’s actions or failure to act. This is known as medical malpractice and if your child has sustained a birth injury as a result of a doctor’s negligence, you may be entitled to file a birth injury claim.

Birth Injury Medical Malpractice Basics

Unfortunately, many of the consequences of birth injuries, especially those related to cerebral palsy, can have lifelong implications. Medical treatment can be extensive, difficult and very expensive for the family to cope with. In addition, parents will have to adjust their schedules and face emotional challenges as they raise a child with cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy can present differently in various patients, so the impact on your child may be significant or moderate, depending on your situation. Many parents do not even realize the full extent of how a cerebral palsy diagnosis can influence their child and their family until weeks or months after the child is born.

If this applies to your situation, you need to consult with a birth injury lawyer as soon as possible about your rights. You may be entitled to recover compensation in a situation where a doctor failed to act as he or she should have. Although there is no way to turn back the hands of time and deliver a happy and healthy baby, the compensation recovered in a birth injury lawsuit for cerebral palsy can make a difficult situation easier.

Cerebral palsy is one of the most common disorders across the country, affecting more than 500,000 individuals. It is a very complicated disorder with many different types and symptoms and signs. Although it’s relatively common, no parent wants their child to develop cerebral palsy. It is important to understand the rights you might have in the event that your child has been affected by cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is a term that includes a number of different brain and movement disabilities. There are three primary types of cerebral palsy; athetoid cerebral palsy, ataxic cerebral palsy and spastic cerebral palsy. Although cerebral palsy usually develops as a result of an injury before, during or shortly after birth, it is somewhat of a medical mystery as to how this truly develops. Some scientists believe that children can get cerebral palsy as a result of a maternal infection prior to the delivery. However, injuries during the labor and delivery process can also develop into cerebral palsy and form the basis of a birth injury lawsuit. In the event that the child has been deprived of oxygen for too long, pulled out forcefully or has been dropped or sustains any type of instrument-related injury like those associated with forceps, he or she may develop cerebral palsy.

Symptoms and Signs of Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is usually marked by a lack of muscle control or the total inability to use certain muscles and spastic movements. Muscle tone can vary between stiff and floppy outcomes. Some of the key ways to notice that your child may be suffering from a birth injury in the form of cerebral palsy include:

· Oral motor problems
· Control and coordination issues
· Reflex problems
· Muscle tone

If you believe that a doctor’s negligence is at fault for the injuries your child has sustained, you may be entitled to recover compensation with the help of a medical malpractice lawyer in Jacksonville. No one should have to go through the process of realizing that their new child is suffering from cerebral palsy because a doctor failed to act appropriately, but unfortunately, this is a reality for far too many parents across Jacksonville and the rest of the country. One of the only things you can do to empower yourself and to protect your child’s future is to consult with a Jacksonville medical malpractice attorney sooner rather than later about your rights. A lawyer can assist you with the preparation of your case so that you have someone aggressively representing your rights.