When people file lawsuits over their child having cerebral palsy, it’s usually because they believe that the doctor was negligent or that an investigation has implied that they were negligent. If you’re in this position, you need to speak with a cerebral palsy lawyer. The lawyer may be able to render cerebral palsy help by putting together a lawsuit. Before you get there, however, you have to understand what negligence is all about.

Negligence and Medicine

Whenever a doctor takes someone under their care, they take on certain duties to that person. Those duties include delivering competent care. When a doctor is negligent, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually incompetent. It simply means that, in the instance over which they’re being sued, they failed to live up to those reasonable expectations placed upon them.

A good physician can make negligent mistakes that cost their patients dearly. This is why there are laws in place that allows parents to sue over their child having suffered this way.

Compensation and What It’s For

Compensation is handed out in the form of a jury award or a settlement to the family. The point is to provide the family and the child with monetary compensation that can help them deal with many of the issues they’ll face as a result of their child having this condition. Those issues include:

• Medical expenses
• Special educational resources
• Assistive devices
• Pain and suffering
• Professional care givers

There are plenty of other expenses that families with a member who has CP will have to deal with, as well. They can be very high and, in some cases, there’s no way that the family could pay them on their own. Suing for compensation is sometimes the only way that the parents have to actually cover these expenses and to provide for their child.

Paying the Lawyer

Some attorneys will work for you on a contingency basis. Under this agreement, the attorney doesn’t get paid unless they win your claim. This is the safest way for parents who are already dealing with the costs of cerebral palsy to move forward and to pursue compensation in court.

There are limitations regarding how long you have to sue over these cases. If you’re not sure whether or not you want to proceed, at least speak to an attorney so that you can find out how long you have to make that determination.