An Ohio family filed a multi-million dollar medical malpractice suit against Dr. Tara Shipman for failing to recognize that a c-section needed to be performed in the birth of their daughter in 2000.  Their daughter, Haley Cobb, was deprived of oxygen at birth resulting in brain injury and cerebral palsy.

Haley’s parents, Debra and Okey Cobb, argue that several factors should have led Dr. Shipman to recognize that a c-section needed to be performed to prevent birth injury.  For instance, Debra Cobb was giving birth for the first time, was over the age of 35 and the baby was overdue.  In addition, the family’s lawyers claim that the information fetal heart monitor used before delivery should have been enough to convince Shipman to order a c-section.

Six out of eight jurors have to find Shipman at fault in order for the Cobb’s to win the case.

If you or someone you love has developed cerebral palsy due to a birth injury, contact the Philadelphia cerebral palsy attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

A California man with cerebral palsy began a climb to the top of Yosemite’s El Capitan- a 3,000 foot mountain situated in the national park.  42-year old Steve Wampler has been in a wheelchair all his life but he says he won’t let it stop him from taking on even the biggest of challenges.

Wampler will sit in a custom designed chair with handles to pull on to lift himself up.  Every pull lifts him about four to six inches higher.  He began the climb on Sunday and by Tuesday had already reached around 750 feet.  Wampler said he estimates that it will take 20,000 pulls to reach the top of El Capitan and expects to be there by Friday.

Wampler, an environmental engineer, trained for a year before the climb.  He hopes to raise around $2 million for his organization, the Wampler Foundation.  The Wampler Foundation helps kids with disabilities across the country by holding summer camp programs.

If you or someone you know suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of a birth injury, contact the Philadelphia cerebral palsy lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

A study published in the September 1st issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, shows a link between the timing of a delivery and the chances of a child developing cerebral palsy.  Cerebral palsy is a muscular and movement disorder that occurs as a result of brain damage incurred at birth.

In the study, researchers found that babies who were born after 37 weeks of gestation were 90 percent more likely to have cerebral palsy than those born at 40 weeks.  Additionally, babies born at 42 weeks or later were 40 percent more likely to develop the disorder than babies born at 40 weeks.

Doctors are still unsure of all the factors that contribute to a baby developing cerebral palsy.  One doctor states, “Until these biological mechanisms are better understood, it would be hasty to recommend intervention on delivery time based on this study”.

If you or someone you love has developed cerebral palsy due to brain injury at birth, contact the Philadelphia cerebral palsy lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

15-year old Mikayla Resh of Allentown, Pennsylvania is speaking out to help raise money for educational programs and “inspire kids of all abilities to share the message of inclusion”.

Mikayla was born with serious brain damage, later causing cerebral palsy, seizures, hearing impairment, blindness, and other medical conditions.  Mikayla can’t speak, but her mother didn’t want this to make her excluded from all the enjoyment life can bring.   She has been included in regular education classes since kindergarten.

Now, Mikayla and her mother have created a non-profit dedicated to including children of all abilities called, Mikayla’s VOICE.   VOICE is an acronym for the voice of inclusion for children everywhere.

Brain damage incurred at birth can have permanent physical and mental effects.   If you or someone you love has suffered brain damage at birth, contact the Philadelphia brain damage lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

A new study conducted by researchers in Denmark shows that fertility treatments could increase the chances of having a child born with cerebral palsy.  The study was published last month in the medical journal “Human Reproduction”.

The study looks at 588,967 children born in Denmark between 1995 and 2003.  Out of the children, 33,139 were born out of a result of in vitro fertilization or ovulation induction.  As of 2009, 1,146 of those born due to in vitro fertilization or ovulation induction were diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Researchers concluded that the chances were nearly double that a child is diagnosed with cerebral palsy if born through fertility treatment than if not.

Cerebral palsy can be caused before, at, or after birth due damage to the neural connections between the cerebrum and cerebellum.

If your or someone you love has been the victim of a birth injury causing cerebral palsy, contact the Philadelphia cerebral palsy lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

A New Jersey family was awarded over $18 million in a Cerebral Palsy malpractice settlement against a hospital after it allegedly took too long to perform a C-section.

According to the lawsuit, the doctors waited too long to perform of an emergency C-section in 1988. At the trial medical experts testified that if the child would have come out eight minutes earlier, there would have not been a birth injury.

The birth injury was brain damage that caused the child to have cerebral palsy. The jury deliberated for two days before awarding the family with the settlement.

Birth injuries can change the lives of a family. Our thoughts are with the family and friends.