An eight year-old in England has been awarded $10.1 million in compensation for a serious birth injury.

Theo Kramer, now eight years-old, suffers from quadriplegia and cerebral palsy. During Theo’s birth at Edgware Birth Centre, a student nurse did not realize that Theo’s heart rate had fallen during the delivery and failed to speed up the procedure. Theo and his mother, Janet, were to be transferred to Barnet General Hospital, but a delay in the transfer compounded Theo’s injuries.

The lawsuit contended that Janet Kramer should have never been admitted to Edgware Birth Centre. Kramer was about to give birth for the first time at the age of 38, and the centre only accepts first time mothers under the age of 35.

England’s High Court approved $10.1 million in compensation to the Kramer family. The award will consist of a lump sum followed by yearly index linked payments, which will ensure Theo’s care in the future.

Contact the Philadelphia birth injury attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 if you or your child have been the victim of a birth injury caused by medical malpractice or hospital negligence.

The parents of a minor who suffered a brain injury during birth have filed a lawsuit in Illinois against a hospital and a doctor.

Accoridng to St. Clair County Circuit Court documents, Jennifer and Lance Schneider filed a lawsuit against Protestant Memorial Medical Center and Dr. Michael E. Hermann. The Schneiders claim their daughter, Sophia, was born with hypoxic brain injury, indicating that she did not receive enough oxygen to her brain during the birthing process. As a result of the oxygen deprivation, Sophia developed cerebral palsy.

The lawsuit claims that because of her injury, Sophia has lost her enjoyment of a normal life, developed an inability to become adequately educated, suffered an impaired earning capacity, and sustained disfigurement, and disability, as well as pain and suffering.

The Schneiders contend that Herrmann negligently ruptured membranes when their daughter’s head was engaged before her birth. The lawsuit claims Herrmann failed to utilize inutero resuscitation maneuvers and prepare for an immediate C-section.

If your child suffered from asphyxia or other birth injuries due to doctor or hospital negligence, contact the Philadelphia birth injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 today.

A mother from Clarksville, Tennessee was recently awarded $6 million in the birth injury lawsuit she filed against Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell.  Sahra Sutton filed the lawsuit in September 2008 after her daughter, Matdison Carter, suffered from oxygen deprivation during her birth at the hospital and later developed cerebral palsy.

According to the suit, Sutton’s doctors failed to call for a C-section when it was necessary to prevent her daughter from suffering from oxygen deprivation, brain injury and ultimately cerebral palsy.  Sutton stated, “The midwife told the doctor she needed to do a c-section, but the doctor told me to continue pushing”.  Soon after her birth, Matdison began having breathing problems and had to be placed in an incubator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for over a month.

Sutton plans to use the money on building a new house that will have wheelchair access for Matdison.

Contact the Philadelphia cerebral palsy attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 if your child has developed cerebral palsy as a result of hospital negligence.

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.

University of Illinois, known for its accessibility for students with disabilities, recently opened the country’s most user-friendly dorm.  The dorm is the first new dorm opened on the campus in 44 years.

Students with disabilities will live on the dorm’s first floor.  The dorm building is connected to a dining hall, convenience store, and meeting spaces.  Some of the dorm room features include a wireless pager that can call for help 24 hours a day, a remote-controlled ceiling lift system to transport wheelchair bound students from their bed to the bathroom, buttons to close or open window blinds, and low sinks, thermostat, and light switches.  The doors to the dorm are opened by waving a card over a sensor, sinks are activated by sensor, and all roll-in showers have chairs.

Also, the dorm has personal assistants working at all times who can come at the push of a button.  Ellen Fultz, the mother of a 21-year old transfer student with cerebral palsy stated, “It is truly better than what we have at home”.

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

An Illinois woman will receive $9.5 million in a settlement with a hospital, doctor and midwife whom she claimed were responsible for her son’s cerebral palsy. She filed the medical malpractice lawsuit accusing the defendants of negligence causing birth injury. Her son was deprived of oxygen for 15 minutes during the birthing process because the umbilical cord was compressed. The complications caused a drop in fetal heart rate, and the doctor was not available to help the midwife when the complication arose. The midwife allegedly performed a risky procedure herself instead of seeking assistance.

The woman’s son now suffers from cerebral palsy, a permanent disability, from the birth injury. He will require care for the rest of his life. The hospital agreed to pay $7.5 million in the settlement, and the midwife and the doctor will pay $1 million each.

If your child suffers from a disability stemming from an injury incurred at birth, the Philadelphia cerebral palsy attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., may be able to help you get the compensation you and your child need. Contact us today by calling 215-238-1130.