New York City Erb’s Palsy Lawyer
Erb’s Palsy is a birth injury that occurs in every one or two of 1,000 births in the United States. Also known as brachial plexus injury, Erb’s Palsy results when the infant’s head and shoulders are pulled too strenuously during childbirth, stretching, tearing or even severing the nerves in the neck. Most often, but not always, Erb’s Palsy is the result of a medical error committed by the obstetrician or obstetrical nurse.
Few things in this life are as painful and traumatic as learning that your newborn baby suffered an injury and may be damaged for life because of a medical mistake that could have been prevented. If your child was injured during childbirth, we’ll work to find out what went wrong. If the injury is the result of negligence on the part of the doctor, nursing staff, or hospital protocols, we’ll seek justice by holding the responsible parties to account for the damage they’ve done. Our New York City medical malpractice law firm helps families throughout Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. We are passionate about the law and compassionate with our clients, especially in this most-sensitive area of birth injury malpractice. Call Michael Gunzburg, P.C., at 212-725-8500 to get answers and justice for your child and your family.
What is Erb’s Palsy?
Palsy is a medical term referring to a partial paralysis that creates weakness and loss of sensation in the affected limb. Often the individual is unable to perform many functions with the limb, which might jerk or shake with uncontrolled tremors. Erb’s palsy mainly affects the arm by turning the muscles in the arm inward and limiting any mobility or functionality in the arm. Erb’s Palsy can also cause difficulty breathing and more severe or complete paralysis.
Erb’s Palsy occurs after damage to the brachial plexus, which is a network of nerves that radiate from the neck and cervical spine to control feeling and motor function in the arms. The severity of the injury depends on whether these nerves are merely stretched or shocked, or whether they become scarred, torn or severed from the spinal cord.
Why Did It Happen?
Most cases of Erb’s Palsy come from injuries during birth. Although Erb’s Palsy can result without any negligence or incompetence on the part of the obstetric staff, more often than not this injury happens because of a medical mistake. Our clients want to know what happened in the delivery room, not just so they can recover money damages from the responsible party, but because understanding what happened and why are critical to being able to move forward and adapting to life with a birth injury as much as possible. Not knowing is itself a source of pain and anxiety that doesn’t go away, which is why we devote ourselves to uncovering the facts and holding liable parties accountable.
Medical errors that cause Erb’s Palsy can include the following mistakes:
- The doctor or nurse pulls too hard to deliver an exceptionally large baby.
- The fetus presented in a breech position with its arms over its head, and the doctor stretched or strained the brachial plexus nerves during delivery.
- The obstetrician utilized forceps or a vacuum extractor with undue force, which stretched the infant’s neck and the brachial plexus nerves in the neck.
- The child was stretched or subjected to some other trauma at some point shortly after birth.
What Can You Do About It?
Our New York medical malpractice lawyer and team will work to find out what happened, build a case that proves malpractice, and make sure the responsible parties cover your medical bills and the lifetime of additional costs, pain and challenges an Erb’s Palsy injury can bring. We strive to get the best results to help you deal with the physical, emotional and practical difficulties associated with a negligent birth injury.
Call Michael Gunzburg, P.C., in New York City for Help with Erb’s Palsy Medical Malpractice Injuries
If your child is the victim of medical negligence which caused Erb’s Palsy or some other birth injury in New York City, call Michael Gunzburg, P.C. at 212-725-8500 for a consultation at no cost to you. Our law firm takes on serious injury cases in The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens and puts in the time and effort necessary to get the best results for our clients.
