Erb's Palsy

Birth Injury Lawyers Advising Families in the Baltimore Area

When an infant is hurt during childbirth, the parents deserve to know what went wrong. A birth injury, such as Erb’s palsy, may have long-term consequences for the growth and development of the child. If you feel that your child was harmed during delivery at a hospital in Prince George's County, Montgomery County, Baltimore City or Baltimore County, or the surrounding communities, you should consult a birth injury attorney who can analyze the facts of your case. At Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, our team has two decades of experience helping families assert their legal rights after a child has been harmed.

Holding a Negligent Health Care Provider Accountable for Causing Erb’s Palsy

Erb’s palsy is a condition that often results from a difficult birth caused by a stretch injury to the brachial plexus. The brachial plexus is a collection of nerves near the neck that give rise to all the nerves in the shoulders and arms. Infants with Erb’s palsy can suffer partial or total paralysis of this part of the body.

An injured patient or the family of an injured child can file a medical malpractice claim against a negligent health care provider. Broadly speaking, negligence refers to the failure to act in a reasonably competent way. Carelessness, inattention, and bad choices by a medical provider often lead to injuries known as medical malpractice or medical negligence. Medical malpractice claims usually require establishing the following elements:

• Duty: the defendant health care provider was required to abide by the standard of care typically used in that specialty and geographic region for a patient in a similar situation.
• Breach of duty: the health care provider deviated from the appropriate standard of care, either by doing something that was careless or by failing to take precautions that should have been taken.
• Causation: the child was hurt as a direct result of the health care provider’s carelessness, and the harm was foreseeable.
• Damages: actual costs or losses were incurred that are reasonably quantifiable.

Erb’s palsy does not heal on its own and often needs years of treatment. In many cases, a combination of different types of treatments will be used, such as exercise, therapy, and maybe even surgery. This type of care can become extremely costly for families, but fortunately they may be able to seek both economic and non-economic damages.

Families with children suffering from Erb’s palsy may be able to pursue compensation for medical bills, therapy costs, pain and suffering, the costs of future treatment, and other types of damages. To determine your eligibility for various types of damages, it is important to speak to a qualified attorney who can assess the merits of your case.

Discuss Your Medical Malpractice Case with a Baltimore Attorney

At Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, our medical malpractice lawyers can take aggressive legal action on behalf of Baltimore residents and others who have been harmed by negligent doctors, nurses, and other professionals. We believe that health care providers should be held accountable when they cause needless harm. Our attorneys proudly serve people throughout Maryland and in Washington, D.C. To learn more about your legal rights and options, call us toll-free at (800) 654-1949 or contact us online for a free consultation.

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