Cerebral Palsy Medical Negligence Claims

This form of CP is caused by damage to the basal ganglia and/or the Cerebellum. It can be caused by infections such as meningitis, lack of oxygen to the brain or trauma to the developing brain. Dyskinetic CP can be broken down into sub-categories depending on the type of involuntary movements from which the child is suffering. These sub-categories are as follows:

• Dystonia: Slow rotational movement of the torso, arms or legs causing poor posture
• Chorea: Sudden involuntary movements, usually in the fingers and toes
• Athetosis: Sluggish writhing movements, usually occurring in the fingers and face

* Choreoathetoid: A combination of Chorea and Athetosis (outlined above);
* Ataxia: Loss of balance and co-ordination. This is the rarest form of CP;
* Rigidity: High muscle tone due to hypertonia causing restrictive movement;
* Dyskenisia: A general term to describe involuntary movements.

This is the most common type of CP and is caused by damage to the motor cortex of the brain and can occur before, during or after birth. Spasticity can affect any muscle group in the body, however, there are some patterns that can be seen in CP:

• Flexion at the elbow, wrist or fingers;
• Flexion at the hip;
• Adduction or scissoring of the thighs (this causes the legs to pull together);
• Flexion at the knees
• Equinovarus foot posture

Spasticity can also affect smaller muscle groups such as the facial muscles, tongue or vocal folds. This can result in slow oral movements, slurred speech and a tightness or hoarseness of the voice.

Ataxia is the least common form of CP. Children suffering from Ataxia will usually have unsteady shaky movements or tremors and difficulty maintaining balance, issues with depth perception and imprecise motor skills. Ataxia is caused by damage to the cerebellum. The main causes of damage to the cerebellum are:

• Infection in the womb;
• Loss of oxygen due to placental failure or breech birth;
• Head trauma during or after birth;
• Brain haemorrhaging from fetal stroke.

Some of the known risk factors that often lead to CP are:

Asphyxia

Medical malpractice

Negligence

Abuse

Injury

Accidents

Infections

Unlike Personal Injury law for adults (who have 2 years from the date of injury to issue a claim) a parent or guardian can commence the injury claim for the child 2 years from the date of their 18th birthday rather than in normal cases 2 years from ‘date of knowledge’. So if a potential claimant was a baby or infant at the time of injury, although we don’t recommend waiting this long, legal action can be taken up to their 20th birthday. With all personal injury claims we advise seeking legal advice as soon as possible. This law is in place for children as it’s not always possible to define the long term physical or psychological consequences of the injury the infant has suffered until they have reached maturity.