What Type of Compensation can I Recover in a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?

If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you know how financially and emotionally challenging parenting a child with special needs can be. Your child has likely needed expensive medical treatment, doctor’s visits, medication, as well as physical and occupational therapy. You might also need to make accommodations for your child in your home, which can be extremely expensive. Moreover, you have likely needed to purchase expensive equipment for your child.

In many cases, one parent might need to quit his or her job or become a part-time employee in order to have the available time required to properly care for a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy. An additional, and perhaps the most consuming, element which contributes to the time factor involved in caring for a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy, is the countless doctors’ appointments and therapy sessions attended. Losing some significant amount of income and needing to pay for expensive medical treatments can be extremely stressful. You and your family have likely suffered emotional damage due to the strain that your child’s diagnosis has placed on the family.

Unfortunately, cerebral palsy is often caused by medical malpractice. If you have a child who has cerebral palsy, you might be able to recover financial compensation. Under North Carolina law, when medical professionals’ negligence cause an injury, the medical provider might be financially liable for the injury.

When doctors, nurses, or midwives do not properly monitor a fetus or newborn for signs of oxygen deprivation, a brain injury can transpire. Or, a medical professional might drop the infant or improperly use forceps or suction during birth, leading to the materialization of a brain injury, which ultimately manifests into cerebral palsy. In some cases, doctors fail to conduct a caesarian section (C-section) in time to prevent the underlying brain damage that caused cerebral palsy to develop.

The amount of damages that the plaintiff recovers varies from case to case. Each claim is unique. Your personal injury lawyer can help you determine the extent of damage claims available to you. You will be able to claim multiple types of damages due to your child’s cerebral palsy. The first type of compensation is called economic damages. Economic damages include any expenses that are easy to quantify, such as:

• Past and future medical care, including doctor’s visits, hospitalizations, emergency room visits, surgeries, rehabilitation, and medication
• The cost of therapies for your child, including recreational therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy.
• Rehabilitation costs
• The cost of mobility equipment, assistive technology, assistive equipment, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, and adaptive vehicles like vans
• The cost of home health care
• Future loss of income
• The cost of tutors and special education
• Any other monetary damages caused by cerebral palsy

Plaintiffs are also entitled to non-economic damages caused by cerebral palsy. Non-economic damages are expenses that you cannot quantify precisely. Nonetheless, there are ways to calculate non-economic losses and injuries. Due to the financial and emotional toll that cerebral palsy causes families, they often experience significant pain and suffering. In some cases, parents become around-the-clock caretakers, causing them to become emotionally and physically burned out, despite the love they have for their child.

Calculating damages is one of the most important parts of a cerebral palsy lawsuit. It is easy to underestimate the financial burden of your child’s cerebral palsy diagnosis. An experienced lawyer can help you accurately calculate all of your expenses. It is important to keep all of your receipts and gather as much financial information as possible to help you determine the amount of damages you should ask for in your personal injury lawsuit.

Plaintiffs who have become injured due to someone else’s negligence have the right to file a lawsuit in North Carolina’s civil courts. The medical professional who you are suing will have the option to defend himself or herself in court via a trial or settle the claim outside of court.

The majority of cerebral palsy lawsuits settle outside of court and never go to trial. In these cases, the at-fault party will pay the defendant a settlement for an amount to which both parties agree. When a settlement does not happen, your case will continue to trial. At trial, the judge and jury will determine how much to award you.

If medical malpractice caused your child’s cerebral palsy, you might be entitled to compensation through a personal injury lawsuit. Contact our Charlotte law firm, Arnold & Smith, PLLC today to schedule a case evaluation with one of our skilled cerebral palsy lawyers to review your options. Call us at 704.370.2828 or fill out our contact form online. Now taking cases throughout North Carolina with offices in Charlotte, Lake Norman, and Union County.