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Minnesota Cerebral Palsy Lawyer

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Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a life-altering illness. CP is a condition that affects motor skills, muscle control, and speech, and in its most severe forms, can be a debilitating disease. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you should consult with a lawyer as soon as possible. Providing the proper treatment for your child can become quite costly over time, so a qualified attorney may be able to help you get the money you need to cover your child's medical expenses.

There are many ways in which a child can become affected by CP, and many of them are completely preventable. CP can be caused by an incident that occurs while the fetus is still developing in the womb as well as during the first three years of a child's life. One of the leading causes of CP prior to birth is the abuse of alcohol, drugs, and nicotine by the pregnant mother. The abuse of these substances can cause irreversible damages to the unborn child's brain and can lead to CP once the child is born. If the mother has a sexually transmitted disease, this increases risks of CP as well. A few examples of the leading diseases that cause CP are AIDS and syphilis. If you know that you have one of these diseases, you should consult with a doctor before becoming pregnant. There are steps you can take to ensure your baby is protected from these infections.

It is important to note that CP can develop after birth as well. A healthy child who is hit on the head in some manner during the first three years of his or her life can suffer the consequences of CP as well. One of the leading causes of CP after birth is brain trauma as a result of a car accident. If your child has contracted cerebral palsy as a result of a car accident, you should consult with an attorney as soon as possible. Providing the necessary support for your child with CP is crucial to his or her development, but it can become quite costly. A CP attorney may be able to get you the compensation you deserve to pay for the care of your child.

The severity of this disease varies, but if treatment is administered at a young age, there is a much better chance for the child to lead a normal adult life. One of the key forms of treatment is physical therapy. CP adversely affects the signals that are communicated from the brain to other parts of the body. With proper physical therapy, it is possible to retrain parts of the brain in order to improve mobility.

Although there is no cure for CP, there are a variety of medications that can be used in conjunction with physical therapy. Medications to alleviate pain as well as to limit muscle contractions have proved to be quite helpful. However, many of these medicines can be expensive. If your child has CP due to medical malpractice or some sort of accident, a qualified attorney should be contacted immediately.

You may be eligible to receive compensation for medical malpractice if:
your doctor or any other medical professionals involved failed to recognize fetal distress
If your baby was not carefully monitored after being born.
If you were not properly attended to during your labor, or if you did not receive correct dosages of medications required for a healthy delivery.
Your doctor waited too long to perform an emergency c-section, and your baby suffered as a result.
Insufficient prenatal care was provided, backed up with expert testimonials

If any of the above scenarios apply to you, and you are thinking of contacting an attorney and filing a claim, there are some important time frames to consider. Minnesota statutes of limitations law state that a birth injury claim as a result of medical malpractice must be conducted no later than than four years after the alleged incident occurred. However, personal injury claims can be filed within six years. Of course, given certain circumstances, filing a claim within such a short time span is impossible for many. Some parents may not discover symptoms until much later in life. For this reason, courts may find that statutes of limitations laws are unconstitutional if legitimate evidence against a physician is obtained. Regardless of these special circumstances, it is best to contact an attorney qualified to handle your case in a timely manner. The longer you wait, the more difficult it is to convict someone. Let a Minnesota attorney take on your case, allowing you to advocate for the rights of your child.