Erbs Palsy
A lot of us think that we are living in an era when medical science just cannot fail us, and yet every year there are many babies born with what is known as Erbs Palsy. This is a condition characterized by paralysis of the arm, and it is due to a serious injury to the nerves of the upper trunk. The most common cause for this debilitating condition is shoulder injury during childbirth. Sometimes it resolves itself, and yet many cases require surgery and years of therapy and rehabilitation to allow the child’s arm or arms to function properly.
The astonishing thing about Erbs Palsy is that it is avoidable. It tends to occur as a birth injury and can happen when a child’s body enters the birth canal at an odd angle and with the head to one side. However, it most often happens when the baby’s shoulders are pulled too roughly during birth or when a child presents “breech” and is pulled too rapidly through the canal – with pressure being put on the arms.
Though it can be treated, the prognosis for babies who have not regained function within the first year of life is bleak. Imagine seeing your newborn undergoing surgery and learning that even after such a risk their arms would never fully function. Imagine how it feels knowing that the whole issue could be avoided.
If you are the parent of a child with Erbs Palsy, you know just how this feels, and if you have just discovered that this is the condition your child has because of birth injury, you need to act fast.
Get in Touch With an Attorney
The first thing you must do as soon as you receive your child’s diagnosis, or even if you simply suspect that the baby has sustained a birth injury, is to get in touch with Erbs Palsy attorneys. These are legal experts who have a background in seeking damages and compensation for families of children injured during birth, and they can be remarkably helpful in building your case and negotiating it through to the best outcome possible.
Remember, you will have to build a case, and that can be very difficult. Medical professionals and hospitals have a lot of resources on their side in order to reduce their liability and keep the amount of compensation they are forced to pay to a minimum level. This makes sense because there are so many times when they face malpractice suits and may have made a habit of seeking to reduce liability.
However, the long-term implications of Erbs Palsy make it obvious that the emphasis should be on ensuring that the injured child, and their family, has all of the resources they need to provide the child with the highest quality of life possible. If you hope to get the best compensation package available you will have to be sure that you can prove that it was some sort of negligence or failure on the part of the hospital or medical team to prevent the injury. In some cases, you may also need to consult with medical experts to prove that it was the delivery team that actually caused the injury.
Naturally, none of this is easy or simple, and it is likely that your focus is going to be on caring for the baby. This is why you will want to call Heavens Law. They have Erbs Palsy attorneys who are already experienced and familiar with such cases and who will help you prove your case and negotiate the best results. Your child will need care, and though the issue may resolve easily in the future, the injury may leave your child partially disabled. Seeking expert advice now is the best way to prepare for any possible outcome.
Source
- OrthoInfo. Erbs Palsy. 2015. https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00077
