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Cerebral Palsy is a
lifelong disability and among the foremost of medical negligence
cases inviting legal action. Managing the needs of a child
afflicted with CP is not only physically and emotionally
draining, but also a severe strain on the financial well being
of a family. It is this expense, which becomes unbearable over a
period of time. Most families are unable to meet the mounting
medical expenses. For this, it is important to be an aware
parent, to understand what could have caused your child’s
Cerebral Palsy, to not take it as ‘fate’, to learn to ask
questions.
While most medical caregivers take due precautions while
handling a case, mistakes - inadvertent or otherwise - do
happen, negligence too happens. More often than not, it is a
case of not having met the stipulated levels of medical care.
There are many ifs and buts, which change your and your child’s
life forever- misreading foetal monitoring systems, not having
noticed foetal distress during labour, delaying a much-needed
caesarian section. Whatever be the reason, while taking on the
case the medical caregiver, the doctor, the nurse, the midwife
or whoever, had assumed responsibility of medical care towards
the patient. If there has been a failure, negligence, on that
score, the error has to be corrected and the only way to do it
in CP cases is by financial redemption, whether in Court or out
of it.
This is where one has to know one’s legal rights and who to
approach for help. Cerebral Palsy cases are complex cases, for
which one needs experienced legal help. They fall within the
ambit of the Law of Tort or the Personal Injury Law. The primary
aim of these laws is to ensure that the injured party is
compensated for the damage that has occurred. The damage could
be related to the pain and suffering caused, incapacitating a
person from earning a livelihood, and of course medical
expenses, both now and in the future. But all such medical
negligence claims are to be filed within a stipulated time
frame. First and foremost, to find out whether or not it is a
case of medical negligence, one needs professional legal
opinion. Thereafter one has to look at the other aspects-which
lawyer to hire, the financial implications i.e. costs and the
lawyer’s fee, the time frame for the case to be settled etc.
Having zeroed-in on a cerebral palsy lawyer, its best to have a
few things clear at the outset-
An agreement listing the costs, the basis of his fees; whether
it will be a fixed amount, or negotiable, on an hourly basis,
contingency amount etc.
The nature and extent of lawyer’s representation. Will he charge
you per court appearance?
A status report from the lawyer at regular and agreed upon
intervals
Never be shy or intimidated either by the lawyer or by his
office space. In fact, there are a few basic questions that you
must initiate in an attempt to understand your legal options
better. Be absolutely clear in asking the lawyer about the merit
of your case, whether or not he specializes in the subject, what
will be the cost implications, an approximate time frame to
settle the legal issue, and the possibilities of a favourable
result, which would justify the legal recourse.
Do some self-study of the case, surf the net for legal options
(a whole network of sites opens up when you punch-in Cerebral
Palsy-legal options), study some success stories and compare
your own case with those, to help you along in your legal
options.
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- editor Sunayana Sadarangani .Copyright©2000.Indianchild.com.
Category recommended
India site :
http://www.nrcissi.org/ - The National Resource Centre for
Inclusion. - The Spastics
Society of India. |
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