One of the hardest parts of dealing with
Erb's palsy is the fact that you have to watch your child struggle over a long period of time to try to get back to full health. Palsy can be especially frustrating for a parent who does a little bit of research, because it quickly becomes apparent these injuries are often the result of improper techniques used by the medical staff during the time of birth.
Another way of putting this: your child is rehabilitating and suffering from Erb's palsy because of the mistakes that doctors made during the birth. This is a very tough thing for many parents to deal with, and it's understandable when they want to know what their legal options are, especially when the giant medical bills start stacking up for the rehabilitation exercises and treatments.
Dealing with Erb's Palsy Treatments
The good news for parents is that there is often a lot you can do to minimize the impact of Erb's palsy, and even undo most of the injury. While this can be dependent on the severity of the injury, as long as Erb’s palsy is diagnosed in a timely manner, there are combinations of exercises, medication, rehabilitation, and some drastic cases surgeries, which can all be used and combined in order to overcome the worst of the damage.
You will need to trust the aid of doctors, who will oversee the rehabilitation process and set you on the right course to helping your child regain full use of his or her shoulder and his or her arm.
How long the rehabilitation process will be once again depends on the severity of the injury, when the Erb's palsy was first diagnosed, and a variety of other factors that are different on a case-by-case basis, such as the natural healing ability of the individual and how the body reacts to the exercises and any drug regimen. All these factors make a difference, and it is important to note that rehabilitation may only take a few months or might be a process that drags on year after year.
Legal Ramifications of Erb's Palsy
The legal ramifications of Erb's palsy are going to vary on a case-by-case basis. If your case is one of the very rare situations, or the damage occurred naturally and most likely could not have been prevented, then there's not going to be any ground for suing.
On the other hand, if it was obvious there were plenty of options, and the stubbornness or blatant refusal of medical professionals to consider any of them once it was obvious there were issues with the birth that directly resulted in the Erb's palsy injury, then there is actually a very strong case for civil litigation.
Even if your child is lucky and the injury is relatively mild compared to other cases of Erb's palsy, is still extremely important to make sure you get the proper legal counsel as early in the process as possible. There are still going to be more medical bills, there's still going to be expenses with rehabilitation treatment, and you don't want to be left on the hook for thousands of dollars or tens and thousands of dollars in medical bills because of a mistake the attending physician made.
Get the Help You Deserve
There is no shame to hiring a medical malpractice attorney. If you have been wronged by the negative action of a medical professional during your child's birth, then you deserve to have the legal representation you need to protect your needs and to make sure you're getting the treatment that you deserve.
