These are questions we are often asked by parents of children with cerebral palsy. They are questions rarely addressed by the child’s treating physicians. Answering these questions involves bringing together the medical opinions of a variety of different medical specialists who must each contribute their opinion on discrete areas of the medical care provided or the injury suffered by the child. Since this does not impact upon the medical treatment being provided to the child, this typically does not occur in the clinical setting.
This leaves many parents with unanswered questions. Over the years an exhausted parent’s battle for answers quickly becomes displaced by the daily battle for much needed support such as therapy and equipment. The unanswered questions, however, continue to weigh on the parent’s mind, resurfacing from time to time, only to be buried again by the weight of the day-to-day needs of their child.
Could it have been prevented?
It is understood that cerebral palsy can occur as a result of various medical conditions that are well-known and preventable with appropriate medical care. In these circumstances, your child may be entitled to receive significant financial compensation to allow the parents to provide for their child’s care, support and therapy, to help their child reach their full potential in life.
It is also understood that cerebral palsy can occur for reasons that are not (yet) understood by modern medicine and in circumstances in which it was not preventable. In these cases, knowing the child’s injury was no one’s fault can help relieve any anger or guilt parents may be feeling, and help them to put the circumstances of their child’s birth behind them, and to focus on their child’s future.
Either way, parents often feel it is better to know, rather than to continue to wonder.
If you are a parent of a child with cerebral palsy and have unanswered questions, please feel free to contact us. We will carefully review your concerns with you, conduct a detailed review of the medical records and consult with our medical experts as required in order to answer your questions and determine if your child may be entitled to financial compensation.
We will review your case and answer your questions without charging you any fees for our investigation.
You may contact us at 604-685-2361 or toll free at 1-604-685-2361, or you may visit our website at www.pacificmedicallaw.ca
This piece was originally published in the Summer 2018 issue of Westcoast Families. You can read the PDF here.
