$3.7 Million Verdict in Birth Injury Case
An Indianapolis jury has awarded a woman and her daughter a $3.7 million judgment in a medical malpractice case arising from the girl’s troubled birth. The lawsuit alleged that the 6-year-old girl will live with cerebral palsy the rest of her life because of delays in the delivery that deprived her brain of oxygen. She was born via C-section in October 2001. Indiana limits medical malpractice awards, so the judgment on the three claims will be reduced to just under $2 million.
As a result of the wide ranging deficits that cerebral palsy can cause, lawyers tasked with representing parents whose baby has developed cerebral palsy following the negligence of a health care provider, must have the resources necessary to retain experts in various medical fields necessary to accurately and comprehensively address the baby’s needs for the rest of his/her lifetime. Those experts can include health care providers in the fields of neonatology; pediatrics; neurodevelopmentalists; neurologists; orthopedic specialists; opthamologists; physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists; vocational rehabilitation counselors; life care planners and economists. It is therefore important that you choose a lawyer who has established ties to health care providers in these fields so as to maximize any potential recovery in your case. Typically cases involving cerebral palsy take years to resolve given the careful attention to detail that must be paid to ascertaining the extent of the injuries experienced by the child as they reach various benchmarks for their respective age group.
Cerebral palsy is a movement disorder that affects muscle tone and posture, and is most often caused by an insult to the baby’s developing brain while in utero. Typical signs and symptoms include floppiness of the limbs and trunk, rigidity of the limbs and trunk, abnormal posture, unsteadiness in walking or a combination of these traits. Many people with cerebral palsy also experience difficulty swallowing or moving their eyes due to muscle imbalances. The range of symptoms can vary greatly from one person to the next. For example, some people affected by cerebral palsy may be able to walk, while others cannot. Some people may be blinded or deaf due to CP. Some people may exhibit normal intellectual function, while others may have significant disabilities.
At the law firm of Silverman Thompson, we are experienced at handling a wide variety of serious injury cases, such as those involving birth injury due to medical malpractice. In fact, we regularly obtain million dollar plus settlements and verdicts for our clients in medical malpractice cases, and have been trial counsel in some of the largest multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements in the area. Our lawyers regularly litigate cases against area hospitals including, Johns Hopkins Hospital, University of Maryland Medical Center, Harbor Hospital, Bon Secours Hospital, St. Agnes Hospital, Sinai Hospital, Union Memorial Hospital, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Frederick Memorial Hospital, Howard County General Hospital, and Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. Call our law firm at (410) 385-2225 for a free consultation or visit our website to set up your free consultation.