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Contact a Kansas City cerebral palsy lawyer to seek justice for your child living with disabilities. Cerebral palsy lawyers work with families to take legal action against local hospitals and doctors. They represent clients in medical malpractice lawsuits over the harm caused to their children and help them recover damages.
Did Medical Negligence Cause My Child’s Cerebral Palsy?
If you have a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you know they will live with lifelong disabilities and associated conditions. They need treatment now and will likely continue to need care throughout their lives. You probably want to know if someone is to blame.
Medical malpractice is a legal term for negligent medical care. If a healthcare professional fails to provide care that meets an acceptable standard and harms the patient, it can be considered malpractice. Negligence and malpractice could have caused your child’s cerebral palsy.
Get Matched with a Leading Birth Injury Attorney in Your Area
Get Help NowPregnancy, labor and delivery, and infancy are times when a baby’s brain is most vulnerable to the damage that causes cerebral palsy. Mistakes made by medical professionals during this period can cause significant harm.
Some examples that might be considered negligent in causing cerebral palsy include:
- Inadequate monitoring during pregnancy leading to unaddressed complications
- Failing to take precautions when there are risks of complications
- Failing to monitor fetal distress during labor or to notice that the fetus is not getting enough oxygen
- Delaying a c-section even though there are signs of distress or complications
- Improperly using forceps or a vacuum extractor
Why Should I Hire a Kansas City Cerebral Palsy Lawyer?
Knowing whether or not your child suffered brain damage because of a negligent medical mistake isn’t straightforward. If you have a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. They will review your situation for free and advise you.
If an experienced lawyer thinks you have a case for malpractice, they can help you file a lawsuit and seek damages.
A lawyer provides your best chance of getting compensation from a hospital or insurer. This compensation is necessary because the costs of treatment and care over a child’s lifetime can be millions of dollars.
How to Find a Cerebral Palsy Lawyer in Kansas City
There is no shortage of lawyers and firms in Kansas City offering to handle medical malpractice cases but be discriminating.
Take the opportunity to interview a few firms to learn more about them before choosing representation. The right lawyer or firm will have:
- Experience handling birth injury cases
- Proven wins for clients like you
- Time to answer your questions and explain your options
- Resources to handle your case from start to finish
- Contingency payment plans and no up-front fees
How Much Compensation Can I Get for Cerebral Palsy?
There are no guarantees when it comes to compensation in a cerebral palsy lawsuit in Missouri. The damages you can recover for your child depend on factors like the degree of disability and expected medical expenses.
Examples of successful lawsuits are useful because they give you an idea of what is possible for your child. With the right lawyer, you can hold responsible doctors and hospitals accountable for the harm they caused.
This is what Dawanna Wilkerson did in 2015 on behalf of her son, DaSean. She gave birth to DaSean at Mosaic Life Care near Kansas City in 2013. Doctors failed to diagnose and treat jaundice in the newborn. Newborn jaundice is not uncommon, but when untreated, it can cause brain damage.
Four days later, DaSean’s symptoms worsened, and he was sent to a hospital in St. Louis, where they diagnosed and treated jaundice. DaSean now has cerebral palsy and related disabilities.
In a lawsuit, Wilkerson’s lawyer argued that Mosaic and the doctors there failed her and her son. They claimed that the doctor in charge should have screened for jaundice and scheduled follow-up appointments. A jury agreed and awarded the family $3.8 million in damages.[1]
Cerebral Palsy Treatment and Support in Kansas City
Getting legal assistance is important, but so is treatment for your child. These medical facilities and support agencies provide expert care and resources for children with cerebral palsy.
Children’s Mercy Hospital
Children’s Mercy is a dedicated pediatric hospital in Kansas City. The Comprehensive Movement Disorders and Spasticity Clinic uses a multidisciplinary approach to treating children with cerebral palsy.
The clinic utilizes a team approach with specialists in neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, rehabilitation, and other areas of pediatrics to create individual treatment plans. Children benefit from various treatments, including surgery, motion gait analysis, injections, and medications.[2]
1801 N. 98th St.
Kansas City, KS 66111
(816) 302-6310
The Children’s SPOT at Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City
The Children’s SPOT, housed at Saint Luke’s, is dedicated to providing rehabilitative therapy to children with a range of diagnoses, including cerebral palsy. Specialists here primarily provide speech, occupational, and physical therapies.[3]
4333 Pennsylvania Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 932-3832
If your child born in the Kansas City area has cerebral palsy, contact a local lawyer who specializes in these cases. They will help you take legal action and get the compensation your child deserves.
Get Matched with a Leading Birth Injury Attorney in Your Area
Get Help NowReferences
- White, M. (2017, April 12). Mosaic Settles Civil Case for $3.8 Million. News-Press Now.
Retrieved from: https://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/mosaic-settles-civil-case-for-3-8-million/article_366cbd5a-ba3c-5bbc-9092-9b619f082306.html - Children's Mercy Kansas City. (n.d.). Comprehensive Movement Disorders and Spasticity Clinic.
Retrieved from: https://www.childrensmercy.org/departments-and-clinics/neurology/movement-disorders-and-spasticity-clinic/ - Saint Luke's. (n.d.). Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City The Children's SPOT.
Retrieved from: https://www.saintlukeskc.org/locations/saint-lukes-hospital-kansas-city-childrens-spot