Elgin Cerebral Palsy Attorneys
Birth injuries can have a devastating effect on your child’s life. Even if your child has no symptoms, it is important to act quickly and file a claim against the responsible party.
If you wait too long, you could lose out on compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain, and suffering, and more.
At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, our personal injury attorneys can help you take legal action against those responsible for causing the problem in the first place.
In addition, our law firm is dedicated to helping families like yours recover damages that will cover ongoing healthcare costs and any other losses that may be related to the incident (e.g., loss of income).
Contact our experienced Elgin, IL, personal injury lawyers at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use our online contact form to schedule a free initial consultation! All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team remains private through an attorney-client relationship.
Caring for children with mental and physical disabilities is emotionally and financially taxing on the family. They must watch their child suffer throughout their development while providing much-needed healthcare.
The Elgin cerebral palsy attorneys of Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC are dedicated to helping these families access the resources they need and securing the damages they deserve when their children have cerebral palsy due to the negligent actions of a medical professional.
We want to provide you with the peace of mind that comes with knowing your child’s needs will be met long after you cannot provide for them on your own, and will do whatever it takes to ensure this goal is met.
Cerebral Palsy and Other Birth Injuries
According to the National Institute of Health, cerebral palsy occurs in about 2 to 6 of every 1,000 births, making it the most common birth injury in America today.
There are several causes of cerebral palsy, but when a medical professional’s negligence is involved, the damage suffered by the baby can leave lasting effects well into adulthood.
Taking Care of a Child with Cerebral Palsy is Expensive
It is rather common for our Elgin cerebral palsy lawyers to seek millions of dollars in damages for our clients. We seek large settlements because children with cerebral palsy will require ongoing medical treatment and therapy throughout every stage of development and into their adult lives.
These children’s parents worry about what will happen to them should they pass or the family’s inability to pay for and provide the health care they need.
Our law firm understands that any parent ensures much stress over the child’s injuries without the support of insurance money for the hospital and medical team.
Some cases of cerebral palsy cannot be prevented. However, many injured parties file suit because the medical professional failed to notice that a child was injured at or after the delivery. Sadly, straightforward treatment options might have been sufficient to prevent the condition when performed promptly.
For this reason, the financial burden of providing for a lifetime of healthcare should rest on the shoulders of the hospital and staff responsible for your child’s injuries.
In addition, our personal injury law firm can file a medical malpractice case on your family’s behalf. Call us for a free initial consultation.
Preventable Birth Injuries That Result in Elgin Cerebral Palsy Lawsuits
Infants’ most common cause of cerebral palsy is the deprivation of oxygen to the brain during labor or immediately following birth. In addition, several injuries can result in hypoxia, including the following.
- Fetal distress during labor— attending staff must monitor the child’s condition when a mother is in labor and report any abnormalities to the doctor in charge of delivery. It is then the doctor’s responsibility to order an emergency C-section if the child’s life is in danger or at risk of permanent brain damage.
- Membrane ruptures— if the membranes are ruptured for longer than 24 hours, the child could be deprived of oxygen for an extended period, developing cerebral palsy or other complications.
- Misinterpretation of test results during pregnancy and following birth— the failure of technicians to conduct tests properly or doctors to interpret the results may have catastrophic consequences.
- Jaundice and complications linked to elevated bilirubin levels— bilirubin is a substance often produced when the body experiences an injury and is not harmful later in life. Newborns’ livers cannot remove this substance from the blood, resulting in jaundice and several other medical complications, including cerebral palsy.
- Infections during pregnancy or after birth can cause an immune response in young children resulting in brain damage when not treated promptly.
Medical malpractice is defined as the failure of medical workers to meet their duty of care to their patients. Therefore, if we can prove any typical professional in the same situation would have responded differently, we can argue negligence or malpractice to recover the compensation you need.
The compensation should cover the cost of your child’s medical care, lowered quality of living, loss of opportunity, and pain and suffering. You can also recover damages to cover the emotional and financial suffering you and your family must endure as you watch your child struggle to thrive.
Medical Negligence Leading to Birth Asphyxia
Our Elgin birth injury lawyers have represented many families harmed through medical negligence that led to preventable birth injuries. In addition, many medical malpractice cases lead the child to experience a permanent disability or wrongful death caused by an avoidable accident.
According to the National Institute of Health, birth asphyxia occurs when oxygen deprivation causes damage to the brain during the birthing process.
However, because cerebral palsy can also be caused by infections, jaundice, and other birth injuries, it is not always clear if a child has developed this condition because of hospital negligence or another cause.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) data reveals that about 40 percent of babies in the United States are affected by birth asphyxia, a type of brain damage.
In about 12 percent of these medical malpractice cases, negligence or mistakes made by hospital staff could have been avoided with proper care and attention to the infant’s needs.
In many cases, when oxygen deprivation occurs due to a lack of response to the child’s problems by hospital staff, a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed. Our Elgin birth injury lawyers have seen many of these cases and understand what it takes to bring justice to your family.
Maternal Embolism
According to the American Pregnancy Association, a maternal embolism is rare. Instead, it happens when a blood clot or piece of fatty plaque becomes dislodged from another part of the woman’s body and transported to the lungs, which blocks an artery.
Most maternal embolisms will not result in death but can lead to permanent disabilities, including paralysis, severe pain, respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation, stroke, kidney failure, and coma.
A maternal embolism can develop in the woman’s legs when sitting at a 90-degree angle for too long during pregnancy or following birth. This position causes the blood to pool in the lower extremities.
The longer she remains at this angle, the more likely it will be that part of the artery inside the leg (femoral vein) will become blocked.
Negligent care during pregnancy or after birth can lead to a maternal embolism. Still, this type of brain injury is often caused by the mother’s genetic predisposition for developing blood clots.
However, the medical team is typically at fault if they fail to act appropriately after they find signs of an embolism, such as not administering blood thinners immediately.
Cerebral Palsy and Other Birth Injuries Leading to Wrongful Death
In some cases, a birth injury leads to a fatal outcome for the child. The law refers to this legal issue as wrongful death, meaning that you are filing a lawsuit against the medical staff involved in your child’s birth for ending their life before it should have occurred naturally.
According to reports from UPI, cerebral palsy does not always result in death cases. However, this condition has led to an increase in fatal outcomes in recent years because more intervention occurs during difficult deliveries, and as a result, medical negligence has increased significantly.
In many cases, cerebral palsy leads to brain damage and other problems that make it difficult, if not impossible, for an infant or child to receive adequate care at home leading to starvation and dehydration.
In these cases, a medical malpractice lawsuit can typically only be filed by the surviving family members, including grandparents or other relatives in some instances.
How to Get Help After a Birth Injury
Many parents face the unenviable position of finding compensation to care for the newborn infant after a difficult pregnancy or birth leading to a permanent disability. Under Illinois law, the medical professional can be held financially accountable by filing a medical malpractice case or lawsuit.
Medical professionals, hospitals, nurses, and others can be held responsible for the severe circumstances that led to the baby’s harm.
Many cases have resulted in significant verdicts and negotiated settlements providing the family funds to protect the child’s care.
Some legal issues throughout Illinois and numerous counties include:
- In the summer of 2020, medical professionals delivered a baby whose umbilical cord was strangled around the neck in Peoria County. The child is born with a broken collarbone, rib, and an injured arm leading to an Illinois medical malpractice case.
- In Williamson County, a nurse inserts the I.V. incorrectly, placing it in the radial artery instead of the antecubital vein on this infant’s arm resulting in permanent damage to his muscles and a broken arm. As a result, the lawsuit was filed in Williamson County, Illinois, against the medical staff and hospital.
- In DuPage County, a doctor negligently performs a C-section on the mother resulting in an injury to her colon that requires immediate surgery and permanent injuries, including bowel problems and abdominal pain. A legal case in DuPage County, Illinois, for birth injuries to a mother, occurred in 2018.
- In Aurora, Illinois, a mother delivering her child experienced extreme bleeding forcing the doctor to perform an emergency hysterectomy on this patient causing permanent damage to her reproductive system and endangering her life. This birth injury lawsuit was filed in the summer of 2019 against the hospital and team of doctors, resulting in a negotiated settlement.
- In Joliet, Illinois, in 2017, a family was grateful for the money they received after their baby was born with cerebral palsy caused by the hospital’s neglect. Unfortunately, a labor and delivery nurse neglected to monitor the baby’s heartbeat leading to the death of this child days after his birth in February 2018. A wrongful death case against the hospital and nurses was filed in September 2018 on behalf of the family.
- In Waukegan, in 2019, a doctor failed to diagnose an infection resulting in the death of this child. The nurse told the family that the baby girl had fallen while trying to stand. However, after hiring an experienced birth injury lawyer, they learned that their daughter died due to a septic infection leading to meningitis and encephalitis.
- In Tinley Park, a C-section was performed on an expectant mother during labor, leading to permanent brain damage and other disabilities. Under Illinois law, the hospital and medical staff were responsible for these birth injuries.
How an Experienced Birth Injury Lawyer in Illinois Can Help
According to Illinois law, medical professionals can be held civilly liable for any temporary or permanent disability caused to a patient through medical malpractice.
Civil tort law allows you and your family to recover the compensation you need after experiencing the loss of a loved one or sustaining a birth injury that has changed your life.
A lawsuit filed by our birth injury lawyers will require evidentiary documentation, medical reports, and expert testimony to hold those responsible for causing these birth injuries accountable.
An exhaustive investigation must be conducted before proceeding, as this is what it takes to prove that negligence caused the asphyxia birth injury.
Statute of Limitations
Birth injury victims and their families in Illinois have two years to file a civil claim. However, it is crucial to understand that the two-year window begins when the injured party becomes aware of their injury and discovers what caused it.
The award you will receive for your medical expenses, lost wages, future losses, pain and suffering, and reduced quality of life is all included in determining how much money is needed to compensate you for your loss.
Sometimes, the time limit might be extended based on additional circumstances surrounding your injury, so do not wait to contact our Elgin birth injury lawyers.
The sooner you hire a birth injury lawyer who understands what it takes to build a strong case, the quicker we can proceed with filing the appropriate paperwork and investigating the negligent acts that led to this serious health problem for your child.
Our Elgin attorneys will need your written consent to file a birth injury lawsuit, which authorizes us access to all your medical records and health care providers. This step is essential because it allows our legal team to investigate your child’s birth thoroughly.
Our attorneys can navigate any medical or procedural obstacle in recovering adequate compensation, including medical malpractice.
Compensation for Medical Negligence and Birth Injuries
Compensation will be available to cover the medical care that your child needs. It may continue to need the emotional and physical suffering caused by a birth injury, loss of income, and other damages you and your family must endure.
Our Elgin birth injury lawyers can help your family seek the compensation you deserve for your child’s medical care, pain and suffering, loss of income, and other expenses associated with a preventable birth injury.
Many families caring for a child with a birth injury require estate planning to ensure they are maximally compensated for a permanent disability. Financial recovery typically involves fair compensation that provides sufficient money to care for the child for a lifetime.
Resources for Families Caring for Children with Cerebral Palsy
In addition to seeking the compensation you need to care for your child, several resources are available for your family through the United Cerebral Palsy Sequin of Greater Chicago.
From employment and life skills training to Community Integrated Living and accessibility services, this organization provides the support you need to help your child grow and transition into adulthood. To learn more about this organization’s services, visit http://ucpseguin.org/ or call (708) 863-3803.
Use the Right Lawyer to Review Your Elgin Cerebral Palsy Case for Free
If your child was injured during birth, you might be entitled to compensation for out-of-pocket costs and medical bills associated with their disabilities. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC has extensive experience in resolving cases involving large settlements.
We have access to medical specialists and economists who can help place an appropriate value on your case so that you do not need to wonder whether your child will have access to the care and resources needed to live well into adulthood.
Contact us at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) or use the contact form to schedule a free consultation. Speak with an award-winning Elgin, IL, cerebral palsy attorney about your claim and all available legal options.
Our law firm will review the medical records surrounding your child’s birth and assess their needs throughout life so that we can let you know what you can expect going forward and how we can help.
Our services are offered on a contingency fee basis, so you will never need to worry about whether you can afford the legal fees needed to pursue compensation. If we cannot secure compensation on your behalf, our services will cost nothing.