A doctor’s negligence can cause unprecedented harm in the delivery of a child, and the harm can last a lifetime. A jury considered this timeframe in Michigan on Tuesday when they awarded the family of a brain-damaged girl what might be the largest medical malpractice verdict in Michigan History. The family of a 15-year old Markell VanSlembrouck, a quadriplegic girl resulting from a brain injury acquired at birth, was awarded $130 million in damages after a three-week trial where the family alleged negligence by the delivering doctor. Markell was larger than expected from gestational diabetes, but rather than perform a cesarean, Dr. Andrew Halperin from Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak chose to induce vaginal delivery. The delivery resulted in a broken clavicle and brain damage. Quadriplegia followed, requiring round-the-clock care. The VanSlembrouck’s attorney says the award represents the cost of caring for Markell through 2077 and her lost wages, and…
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Birth Injury and Cerebral Palsy Attorneys Home
Michigan Family Awarded $130 Million For Daughter’s Brain Damage
October 26, 2011Study Finds Mild Infections Do Not Increase Cerebral Palsy Risk
October 24, 2011The medical community is continuously searching for factors that increase the risk of a child developing cerebral palsy. There are concerns that infections in a mother may raise the risk of cerebral palsy, but a new study has found that common colds and stomach flu are not tied to the birth defect. One of the study’s authors said that other more serious infections and factors like a woman’s history of miscarriage or a family history of cerebral palsy were associated with increased risk to babies, but even then, the risk was low. Pre-term birth, growth restrictions inside the uterus and being a twin or part of a larger set of multiples also increased the risk, as well as severe maternal infections. With 10,000 babies in the United States being born a year developing cerebral palsy, the continuing search for causes is likely to continue. The most significant infections linked to…
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Some Considerations For Disabled iPad Users
October 20, 2011There has been a recent surge in the use of new technology for assisting in communication with sufferers of cerebral palsy, namely in Apple’s iPad. Some parents of children with cerebral palsy and other birth defects are finding great benefits in using the iPad to communicate with their child in ways they would have never imagined a few years ago. There are parents of disabled children who have gone so far as to design applications themselves, using their intimate knowledge of their child’s limitations to create programs that cater to it. Michael Brooks, the father of a daughter with cerebral palsy, set up a website called Mia’s Apps, where other families can download the apps he designed to communicate with his daughter. The practice of using apps has spread widely enough to create the need for workshops designed around teaching parents how to use technology like the iPad with their…
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