Erb’s palsy is a type of paralysis generally caused by a birth injury and most cases are preventable. Because your doctor may have been negligent during your baby’s birth, your child with Erb’s palsy unfortunately may have permanent life-long physical and psychological injuries.
An Erb’s palsy lawyer at Rheingold, Giuffra, Ruffo, Plotkin & Hellman, LLP can hold the doctors responsible for your child’s birth injury accountable and help you receive the maximum compensation for your child’s injuries.
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Also known as brachial plexus birth palsy or Erb-Duchenne paralysis, Erb’s palsy is a weakness and loss of motion in the arm. The nerves controlling movement in the arms, hands, and fingers are either stretched or torn. It is named for Dr. Wilhelm Erb, one of the first physicians to diagnose the condition.
In newborns, Erb’s palsy most often happens during a difficult delivery when the infant’s neck is stretched to the side when coming out of the birth canal.
Erb’s palsy risk factors include large infant size, maternal diabetes, maternal obesity, breech birth and prolonged labor. However, some infants without these risk factors develop Erb’s palsy, even when delivered by Caesarean section.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), this birth injury ranges from “0.9 to 2.6 per 1,000 live births. It causes significant arm weakness that affects 0.4 to 5 in 10,000 births.”
To understand Erb’s palsy, it is crucial to know how the brachial plexus functions. This network of nerves near the neck controls the nerves extending from the arm. The nerves pass from the spinal cord between the neck vertebrae and into the arm.
These nerves allow the shoulder, arm, hands, and fingers to have movement and feeling. When the brachial plexus nerves are impaired, weakness and loss of movement result. With Erb’s palsy, it is generally the upper nerves of the brachial plexus that are affected.
There are four basic types of Erb’s palsy, ranging from extremely serious to relatively mild:
Initial symptoms of the various types of Erb’s palsy are similar. The outcome of recovery depends on the specific form.
The symptoms of Erb’s palsy are apparent immediately after birth. The baby is either not moving their arm or hand or the arm is held straight at the elbow and held against the body.
A doctor will suspect Erb’s palsy upon a physical examination of the infant and the arm’s weakness. Diagnosis may include taking X-rays or an MRI of the baby’s shoulder to rule out fractures or issues with the shoulder or elbow joints.
To determine whether the muscles of the upper arm contain nerve signals, the doctor may order tests such as a nerve conduction study or an electromyogram.
As noted, neurapraxia tends to resolve on its own within a few months. While a neuroma may heal on its own, recovery is not usually complete.
Ruptures do not heal on their own. In some cases, the rupture is repairable via surgery. The damaged nerve requires splicing together with a nerve graft taken from elsewhere in the child’s body.
Avulsions are not repairable. Some arm function may be restored by using another muscle’s nerve from a donor. The donor nerve replaces the detached nerve.
It can take years after surgery for the nerve repair to become effective, as nerves grow very slowly. During this recovery period, the child requires rehabilitation exercises to boost their arm strength and range of motion.
Prompt treatment after a diagnosis of Erb’s palsy is essential. Even in a best-case scenario, neglecting such treatment can lead to a 20 to 30 percent permanent nerve function deficit, as per the NIH. Some children may require a series of surgeries as they age to improve their arm function. For many children, arm strength and range of motion are permanently compromised.
Long-term complications of Erb’s palsy may include:
Erb’s palsy often severely affects a child’s self-esteem. Not only is one arm less functional than the other, but the two arms are notably different in length. This difference becomes more obvious as the child grows. Some children cannot participate in sports or other recreational activities due to Erb’s palsy.
For most infants, daily physical therapy is the primary Erb’s palsy treatment. Parents must play an active role in their child’s physical therapy. Your pediatrician or the baby’s physical therapist will show you how to perform these exercises. These exercises must be done as often as possible during the day, starting when the baby is about three weeks of age.
If there is no improvement by the age of six months, surgery is usually recommended.
An Erb’s palsy claim is a medical malpractice lawsuit. As noted, many Erb’s palsy cases are preventable. Because the doctor did not follow standard medical procedures during your child’s birth and used excessive force or the wrong delivery technique, your child suffers long-term or permanent impairment.
In order to prove medical negligence in a birth injury, the plaintiff must prove that they were under the care of a physician who failed to perform the appropriate standard of care, and as a direct result of this failure, their baby has suffered Erb’s Palsy.
By filing an Erb’s palsy lawsuit, you may receive financial compensation for the ongoing medical treatment and other services your child needs. In New York, the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, including birth injuries, is 2.5 years from the date of the injury.
However, it is critical to contact a New York birth injury lawyer as soon as possible so that valuable evidence regarding your claim does not disappear. The sooner your attorney begins investigating your claim, the better.
Compensation, or damages, in an Erb’s palsy case falls into two major categories. Economic damages are straightforward, as they include medical bills and other expenses with specific costs. Non-economic damages are more subjective and are based on the degree of the child’s pain and suffering. Additionally, there is no legally defined cap to monetary compensation in medical malpractice cases in New York.
When calculating compensation, much depends on how deeply Erb’s palsy affects the child physically and emotionally. Compensation for a child who is severely affected by Erb’s palsy will be greater than that for a child with more minor complications.
We hire medical and financial experts to testify about the causes and the short-and-long term costs of treatment and care. Medical experts testify as to the standard of care during deliveries and how your doctor breached that standard. Financial experts can determine the lifetime costs of your child’s particular level of injury.
If your newborn suffers from Erb’s palsy due to medical malpractice at birth, you need the services of an experienced New York birth injury attorney at Rheingold, Giuffra, Ruffo, Plotkin & Hellman LLP to help you recover compensation for the damages you’ve incurred.
Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation today. While most cases are settled, we will take your case to trial when necessary. Because we work on a contingency basis, you pay no fee unless you receive compensation.
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