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Cleveland Erb’s Palsy Lawyers
Caring advocacy when medical malpractice causes birth injuries
There are many hospitals and OBGYNs that provide maternity care across Ohio, including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Chagrin Falls, and Chesterland. These birthing centers should understand what birth injuries such as Erb’s palsy may occur during delivery and take preventive measures. At Crandall & Pera Law, we have 50 years of combined experience fighting for personal injury victims, including newborns and parents. Our Cleveland Erb’s palsy lawyers work with medical experts who can explain why these hospitals and doctors should be held accountable if your child develops any type of brachial plexus injury, including Erb’s palsy. We’re here to fight for all the compensation you deserve.
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What is Erb’s palsy?
Erb's Palsy is a brachial plexus injury. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the brachial plexus is a “group of five nerves that connect the spine to the arm, and hand.” The brachial plexus nerves enable your child’s shoulder, arms, and hands to move. Brachial plexus palsy occurs when these nerves fail to work properly. Erb’s palsy is one type of brachial plexus palsy that weakens or lessens your child’s ability to use their shoulder, arm, and hand muscles. Erb’s palsy is also called Erb-Duchenne paralysis.
There are four types of Erb’s palsy injuries:
- Avulsion occurs when a brachial plexus nerve “rips away from the spine.” This type is the most serious form of Erb's palsy.
- Rupture occurs when the nerve is “torn, but not from the spine.”
- Neuroma occurs “when the nerve has torn and healed,” but there is scar tissue. The scar tissue places pressure on the damaged nerve and stops the nerve from “conducting” signals to the muscles.
- Neurapraxia occurs when the nerve is stretched but not torn. This form is the most common type of brachial plexus injury.
Erb’s palsy can occur during a difficult vaginal childbirth or a cesarean section. More specifically, Erb’s palsy may occur when the OBGYN or another delivery healthcare provider needs to “move your baby’s head to one side to make room for delivery of their shoulders.” As the brachial plexus nerve stretches, the nerves can tear or suffer other damages.
The Cleveland Clinic states that about 2.6% of 1,000 live births result in Erb’s palsy. Generally, larger infants who may become stuck are most prone to Erb’s palsy.
What are the symptoms and complications of Erb’s palsy in Cleveland and across Ohio?
At Crandall & Pera Law, we review whether your child’s doctor properly anticipated, monitored, and treated the signs and symptoms of Erb’s palsy. Your child’s shoulder, arm, and elbow may be affected. The hand muscles normally are not affected, though they may be numb or tingle. The signs and symptoms of Erb’s palsy include:
- Paralysis or limpness of the arm, shoulder, and elbow. When your newborn is older, they may have difficulty lifting an arm away from their body or bending their elbow.
- Numbness or tingling in your newborn’s arm or hand - called “burners and stingers.”
- “A hand position known as ‘the waiter’s tip’ position. The palm of your hand points toward the back, and the fingers curl.”
What causes Erb’s palsy in newborns?
Erb’s palsy in newborns can occur when your OBGYN moves your baby’s head to get their shoulders out. During the shift, the brachial plexus nerves can stretch or tear. Erb’s palsy can also happen due to the way your baby was lying in the uterus during pregnancy and when labor starts.
Our Cleveland Erb’s palsy lawyers understand what diagnostic tests can show that your child has Erb’s palsy. These tests include an electromyography (EMG) that shows how well the nerves and muscles are working; CT scans, MRIs, and myelograms that take pictures of your baby’s insides. Some of these tests may be delayed until your child is old enough. Doctors may order an X-ray to see if there are any fractures.
Some of the risk factors for shoulder dystocia (your baby’s shoulder is stuck inside the mother’s pelvis) that your doctors should look for include:
- A high infant birth weight or an overweight mother
- Diabetes in the mother
- A prior pregnancy where there was shoulder dystocia
- Being pregnant with multiple babies
- The use of medications like oxytocin or an epidural during labor
- A breech birth position
What are the treatments for Erb’s palsy?
Some cases of Erb’s palsy may resolve in a few months. Other cases of Erb’s palsy may be permanent. The Cleveland Clinic states that the following treatments may help a child who has Erb’s palsy:
- Exercise and physical therapy with your baby from the age of three weeks. These exercises include stretching and range-of-motion exercises to prevent stiffness. “You’ll want to avoid a joint contracture (permanent joint stiffness).”
- Hydrotherapy. This therapy combines exercise with water. The water helps support your child so that the exercises are less painful.
- An injection of botulinum toxin (Botox®)may be recommended “to paralyze working muscles for a time to force weaker muscles to take over.”
- A splint may be used on your newborn’s hand to prevent the hand from “curling inward and being rigid.”
- Surgery (after six months) may be required to:
- Repair damaged nerves by the use of “nerve grafts, nerve transfers, neurolysis and nerve decompression.”
- Repair muscles by using a “muscle or tendon transfer to replace the damaged tissue with tissue from another place in the body.”
- These repairs may require time before regrowth occurs.
Erb’s palsy is different from Klumpke’s palsy. Both are brachial plexus injuries, and both are birth injuries. The difference is the location of the nerve damage. In Erb’s palsy, the upper nerves are damaged. Erb’s palsy generally affects your baby’s arm. In Klumpke’s palsy, the lower nerves sustain damage. Klumpke’s palsy generally affects your baby’s forearm and hand. The hand may have a claw appearance.
How do you fight for newborns who have Erb’s palsy?
We work with obstetricians and other doctors to show that your health providers failed to anticipate, monitor, and prevent Erb’s palsy from occurring. These specialists help show what steps your delivery doctors should have taken but failed to do so or what steps caused your child to develop Erb’s palsy.
We file birth injury claims against everyone responsible, including the obstetricians, hospitals, nurses, midwives, and any other responsible healthcare providers.
Our Cleveland Erb’s palsy lawyers verify your child’s Erb’s palsy, review with our medical team the medical care your child needs, the cost of that care, and all the ways Erb’s palsy will likely affect every aspect of your child’s life.
Do you have an Erb’s palsy lawyer near me?
At Crandall & Pera Law, our Erb's palsy lawyers meet parents and their newborns at our offices located in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Chagrin Falls, and Chesterland, Ohio. We also represent parents and children in Lexington, Kentucky. If your child cannot come to our office, we can make alternate arrangements. We also conduct consultations by phone and online.
Our dedicated team is here to answer all your questions and guide you through the claims process.
Contact our experienced Cleveland Erb's palsy lawyers today
We understand how devastated you are. You expected to leave the delivery room with a healthy baby. Now you have medical bills to pay, and you have to focus on helping your child maximize their health and possibly live with a lifetime of nerve damage. At Crandall & Perry Law, we demand compensation for all your child’s medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of bodily function, and inability to enjoy life’s pleasures – and the financial cost to take off from work and care for your child. To schedule an appointment with our Cleveland Erb’s palsy lawyers, call us or complete our contact form. We’re ready to help you today.