Cerebral Palsy Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

In Howard County, Maryland, Tatyana McFadden was barred from competing against other students because the school system said her wheelchair was a tool to help her win. McFadden took the Howard county school system to court and after several months the teenager with spina bifida won the right to race alongside high school teammates after challenging a school policy that forced her to compete separately at track meets.

This decision will still have to go through the The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association to determine if athletes in wheelchairs will be able to earn points for their team in regional and state tournaments.

So as it stands now, Tatyana McFadden, who by the way has competed successfully on a larger playing field, winning silver and bronze medals in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens will return to the track, at least in Howard County.

Erbs or Brachial Plexus Palsy has an occurrence rate in the USA of approximately 3 live births per 1,000. This condition is most commonly caused at birth by an injury to a network of inter-joining nerves in the head, neck, and shoulders. Erbs Palsy often occurs in larger children (due to their difficulty passing the mother's pubic bone) when excessive pressure is put on a child's head, neck, or shoulder during delivery.

Symptoms of Erbs or Brachial Plexus Palsy include: complete or partial paralysis or limpness in a child's arm, limited or no movement in a hand and/or fingers, or loss of feeling in the hands and/or fingers.

Treatment exists for children with these conditions and includes immobilization of the arm, physical therapy and in the more severe cases, surgery.

Please visit our website for a more information regarding Erb’s Palsy including:

History

Treatment

Risk Factors

Types of Medical Malpractice Cases

Spina bifida is a neural tube defect occurring when the tissue surrounding the developing spinal cord of a fetus does not form properly. The neural tube is the embryonic structure that, in time develops into the baby's brain and spinal cord and the tissues that enclose them. Defects are most often found along the lower portion of the spine.

Typically, the neural tube forms in the developing baby early in the pregnancy and closes by the 26th day after conception. Later, the top of this tube becomes the baby's brain, and the remainder of the tube becomes the baby's spinal cord. In babies with spina bifida, a portion of the neural tube fails to develop or close properly, causing defects in the spinal cord and in the bones that make up the backbone. In the USA, approximately 1 in every 2,000 children are born with spina bifida.

Please visit our website for a more information regarding Spina Bifida including:

Types of Spina Bifida

Causes of Spina Bifida

Diagnosing Spina Bifida

Spina Bifida Symptoms

Medical Malpractice and Spina Bifida

This is a well done video outlining spina bifida and depicting a mans struggle with the disorder.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a fairly broad term used to describe permanent neurological disorders characterized by loss of movement or loss of nerve function. In the USA this disorder occurs in approximately 4 live births per 1,000. Cerebral palsy is often caused by hypoxia or lack of oxygen to the brain occurring during or near the time of birth.

Often, at birth no signs of cerebral palsy may be easily observed. As the child grows and their nervous system matures, however, signs of the condition may become pronounced. These signs may become noticeable by the age of three months and include the child missing many of the normal developmental milestones, such as, failure to react to sudden noises, lack of facial expression, or failure to follow objects with his/her eyes. Over time additional symptoms may follow which include: slow development in terms of rolling over, smiling, crawling, walking, and talking, decreased muscle tone or "floppy" limbs, vision or hearing problems, and poor coordination.

Please visit our website for a more information regarding Cerebral Palsy including:

History

Diagnosing Cerebral Palsy

Types of Cerebral Palsy

Treatment

Medical Malpractice and Cerebral Palsy

Questions to Ask Yourself