Tag Archives: cerebral palsy lawyers
Suspecting Abuse, Court Demands Uncensored Documents from Disability Centers
There are close to 1,700 people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities living in the California Department of Public Health’s institutions for the developmentally disabled. For years, any record of abuse or neglect was hidden from public eyes. The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) sued the department for withholding these documents. The department released highly redacted versions of the citations, and now a California state court is ordering the release of the full, uncensored versions. The defense for the institutions argued that the redacting was necessary because the patients’ medical information is confidential. The judge disagreed, saying that blacking out the information defeats the purpose of releasing the documents. “Under (the department’s) construction, redacting factual information from the citation, the public knows a violation has occurred, but cannot ascertain how the violation occurred, whether it has been corrected, or whether it is likely to be repeated,” Judge Timothy Frawley wrote….
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Posted in Cerebral Palsy Tagged california department of public health, center for investigative reporting, cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy lawyers Comments Off on Suspecting Abuse, Court Demands Uncensored Documents from Disability Centers
Surgery Options for Cerebral Palsy
On Monday we wrote about selective dorsal rhizotomy, a treatment to improve muscle control for children with spastic cerebral palsy. While there is no cure for cerebral palsy, there are surgery options for improving quality of life. Orthopedic Surgery Many children with cerebral palsy undergo orthopedic surgery in their early years. Orthopedic surgery attempts to correct stiff muscles and allow the child to walk. Some critics of this surgery point out that there is little follow-up data available, and that some benefits are temporary. Patients usually require multiple variations of this operation. Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy For people with spastic cerebral palsy, abnormal components of the nervous system send incorrect signals to muscles, resulting in spasms. In this costly procedure (about $30,000), the surgeon cuts the nerves responsible for sending these malformed signals. While this procedure is usually successful in children, more research is needed to determine if it can help…
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Posted in Cerebral Palsy Tagged cerebral palsy attorneys, cerebral palsy lawyers, intrathecal baclofen, orthopedic surgery, selective dorsal rhizotomy Comments Off on Surgery Options for Cerebral Palsy
Nerve Procedure Offers Hope for Children with Cerebral Palsy
The above video features Christian Izquierdo, a 16-year-old from Florida. When he was eight months old, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Activities like running and jumping seemed forever out-of- reach – until a doctor in St. Louis changed his life. Thanks to a procedure called a selective dorsal rhizotomy, Christian can run and jump. Doctors have also noticed an improvement in his speech. A New Life Dr. T. S. Park has performed the procedure on nearly 2,400 children with cerebral palsy. Search for the surgery on YouTube and you will find several videos of children running and walking after the operation – many of them performed by Dr. Park. The surgery is not cheap – Christian’s cost nearly $32,000, and it is not covered by most out-of-state insurance companies. His family set up a website called Christian’s Crusade to raise money. The Procedure Many parents agree that the selective…
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Posted in Cerebral Palsy Tagged cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy lawyers, selective dorsal rhizotomy, spastic cerebral palsy Comments Off on Nerve Procedure Offers Hope for Children with Cerebral Palsy
