As a parent, you may want nothing more than for your child to lead a happy and healthy life. So, you may be utterly devastated when they are diagnosed with cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy soon after their birth. You may naturally want to blame yourself for doing something amiss during the delivery to have caused this to them, but you must not be so hard on yourself and also wrongly condemn yourself. With that said, please follow along to find out the differences between cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy and how one of the proficient New York City cerebral palsy lawyers at Mark L. Bodner, P.C. can help you get your infant the aid for their condition that they require and deserve.
What is the difference between cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy in an infant?
You may have heard the medical conditions cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy tossed around before, but you must not mistake them as interchangeable terms. On the one hand, cerebral palsy is a disorder caused by damage to an infant’s brain in the womb, during delivery, or sometime after birth due to a lack of oxygen flow to the brain. This brain damage may, in turn, affect an infant’s body movement, coordination, and balance. More often than not, this is diagnosed as a permanent, lifelong condition.
On the other hand, Erb’s palsy happens when an infant suffers a brachial plexus injury, an injury to the group of nerves that travel from the spinal cord to the arm, during delivery. This is if the infant’s shoulders unfortunately get stuck in the birth canal after the delivery of the head. Its symptoms may entail weakness, paralysis, or loss of sensation in the arm(s). While some may experience long-term issues, many infants may be blessed with the opportunity of fully recovering.
Can I sue in response to my infant’s birth injuries?
The one thing that cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy have in common is that they could have been caused by the negligence of the medical professionals present in the delivery room during the infant’s birth. For one, a medical professional may have unnecessarily delayed to initiate the birth delivery or failed to order a ceserean during an emergency. Or, a medical professional may have placed excessive, undue pressure on an infant’s head, neck, or shoulder during their delivery.
So, if you believe one of these to be the likely cause of your infant’s condition, you may sue for medical malpractice. As mentioned above, your infant may unfortunately suffer through this condition for a majority or the entirety of their lifetime. So you must make your best effort toward recovering financial compensation for their future medical expenses, future lost earning capacity, long-term physical pain and emotional suffering, and much more.
Before entering these proceedings, you should have already hired a talented New York City Erb’s pasly lawyer to represent you. So, if you have not done so already, please contact Mark L. Bodner, P.C. today.