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Kentucky Erb’s Palsy Lawyers
Birth injury lawyers who fight for your newborn’s future
Hospitals and doctors who help deliver newborns have a responsibility to provide competent medical care. At Crandall & Pera Law, our birth injury lawyers have the experience and working relationships with the medical community to show why your medical providers should be held liable if your newborn develops Erb’s palsy. Most cases of Erb’s palsy, a brachial plexus injury, are preventable. Our Kentucky Erb’s palsy lawyers demand compensation for your child’s medical expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of bodily function when birth injury doctors in Kentucky commit medical malpractice. Call us today to assert your child’s rights.
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Table of Contents
- What is Erb’s palsy?
- What are the symptoms and complications of Erb’s palsy in Kentucky?
- How do doctors diagnose Erb’s palsy in Kentucky?
- What are the treatments for Erb’s palsy?
- Why should hospitals and delivery doctors be held accountable for Erb’s palsy in Kentucky?
- How much is my child’s Erb’s palsy claim worth?
- Do you have a Kentucky Erb’s palsy lawyer near me?
What is Erb’s palsy?
Erb's Palsy and Klumpke’s palsy are brachial plexus injuries. The Cleveland Clinic states that the brachial plexus is a group of five nerves that connect the spine to the arm and hand. The brachial plexus nerves are necessary for your newborn’s hands, arms, and shoulders to work and feel sensations. Erb’s palsy is also known as Erb-Duchenne paralysis.
There are four types of Erb’s palsy injuries:
- This injury is the most severe type of Erb’s palsy birth injury. It happens when the nerve completely rips apart from the spine.
- This injury happens when a brachial plexus nerve tears away but not from the spine.
- Neuroma injuries occur when scar tissue pressures a damaged nerve, preventing it from communicating with your child’s muscles.
- Neurapraxia happens when a brachial nerve stretches but doesn’t tear. It’s the most common type of brachial plexus injury.
Erb’s palsy can develop during a difficult vaginal childbirth or a cesarean section. Erb’s palsy may happen when the obstetrician moves your baby’s head to one side – so your doctor can leave room for your baby’s shoulders.
More than .9 to 2.6 in 1,000 deliveries (about 12,000 on a national yearly level) result in Erb’s palsy. The risk of Erb’s palsy increases with larger babies.
What are the symptoms and complications of Erb’s palsy in Kentucky?
Our Kentucky Erb’s palsy lawyers work to show that your delivery team should have known the risks of Erb’s palsy and responded immediately.
Some of the signs that you should seek medical and legal help include the following:
- Limpness or paralysis of the elbow, arm, and shoulder. Your newborn has difficulty moving their arm away from their body or bending their elbow.
- Numbness or tingling of the hand or arm. These are called “stingers and burners.”
- A position of the hand (called a waiter’s tip position). Here, your newborn’s palm points toward the back, and their fingers curl.
How do doctors diagnose Erb’s palsy in Kentucky?
Doctors diagnose Erb’s palsy by:
- Conducting a physical examination, including testing what upper body parts your child can move.
- Ordering an EMG (electromyography) to test how well your newborn’s nerves and muscles work.
- Ordering an MRI or CT in combination with a myelogram to see what’s happening inside your newborn’s body.
- Ordering an X-ray to determine if your newborn has any broken bones.
What are the treatments for Erb’s palsy?
At Crandall & Pera Law, we work with your doctors and our own network of birth injury doctors to verify your child has Erb’s palsy and understand the full range of treatments your child may need. Treatments for Erb’s palsy vary, depending on the severity of the injury, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Treatments include:
- Physical therapy. Your newborn may benefit from physical therapy (exercises) once your child is at least three weeks old. Range-of-motion and stretching exercises can help prevent stiffness in your child’s hand, wrist, and arm. One goal of physical therapy is to prevent joint contracture (permanent joint stiffness). Parents should follow their provider’s instructions about how many times to do the movements each day.
- This treatment uses water to make the physical therapy less painful.
- A botulinum toxin (Botox ®) injection. This procedure paralyzes working muscles for a time to force weaker muscles to take over.
- Using splints. Splints may help prevent your baby’s hand from curling inward and being rigid.
Surgery may be necessary if your child’s Erb’s palsy doesn’t improve during his/her first six months of life. Surgery may include:
- Nerve repair.Nerve repair involves using “nerve grafts, nerve transfers, neurolysis, and nerve decompression.”
- Muscle repair.This treatment “involves a muscle or tendon transfer to replace the damaged tissue with tissue from another place in the body.”
Both nerve repair and muscle repair may require significant time before you see progress in your child.
While Erb’s palsy and Klumpke’s palsy are both brachial plexus injuries, there are key differences. Erb’s palsy damages the upper brachial plexus nerves and generally affects your child’s arm. Klumpke’s palsy damages the lower brachial plexus nerves and normally affects your child’s hand and forearm – and may result in a claw appearance.
Why should hospitals and delivery doctors be held accountable for Erb’s palsy in Kentucky?
Our Kentucky birth injury lawyers work with obstetricians and conduct extensive questioning of everyone involved in the delivery to determine what happened. We hold hospitals and delivery doctors accountable if they fail to anticipate the likelihood that they need to properly position your baby’s head without stretching or tearing the brachial plexus nerves. We also review whether the medical providers properly evaluated the risk factors, such as large babies and difficult deliveries.
Risk factors include:
- A heavy baby or mother
- A mother who has diabetes
- A prior pregnancy where there was shoulder dystocia
- Multiple fetuses
- A breech birth position
- The use of medications like oxytocin or an epidural during labor
How much is my child’s Erb’s palsy claim worth?
At Crandall & Pera Law, we file medical malpractice claims against all responsible parties, including hospitals, obstetricians, nurses, midwives, and any other responsible healthcare providers.
We demand compensation for all of your child’s damages (to date and for the rest of their lives), including:
- Medical expenses, such as surgeries, physical therapy, medications, and assistive devices.
- Physical pain and emotional suffering
- Inability to enjoy life’s pleasure
- The inability to use a hand, wrist, elbow, arm, or shoulder
- The cost to the parents to care for their child
- Any other financial or personal damages
Do you have a Kentucky Erb’s palsy lawyer near me?
Yes. At Crandall & Pera Law, our lawyers meet parents and children at our Lexington, Kentucky office located at 201 E Main St., Suite 530. If your child’s Erb’s palsy prevents them from coming to our office, we can make alternate arrangements. We also consult with clients by phone and through online video, such as Zoom and FaceTime.
We understand how devastating any birth injury is. We’re here to guide you through each step of the claims process.
Get help from our accomplished Kentucky birth injury lawyers now
Your child is your life. At Crandall & Pera Law, we fight to ensure your child has the best life possible. Our Kentucky Erb’s palsy lawyers have decades of combined experience filing medical malpractice claims when healthcare providers commit medical malpractice. We’re ready to help you now. Please call us or complete our contact form to schedule a free consultation. Our lawyers handle Erb’s palsy claims on a contingency fee basis.