Cerebral palsy is often thought of as being a disease. In fact, it’s a group of disorders that can involve a range of symptoms and impairments related to nerve functions such as movement. Cerebral palsy can range in severity from mild to debilitating, often children with this disorder often require intensive and ongoing care. When cerebral palsy is the result of medical malpractice, parents may choose to consult a lawyer to discuss filing a lawsuit. Compensation from a jury award or settlement can help parents make sure their children receive the lifelong care they need.

Myth: Cerebral Palsy is Not Preventable
It’s true that cerebral palsy is not always preventable. However, sometimes cerebral palsy is the result of medical errors committed by negligent healthcare providers. For example, a healthcare provider may fail to detect a serious maternal health problem, such asgestational diabetes, or a pregnancy-induced hypertensions. Each of these conditions can result in the brain damage that is characteristic of cerebral palsy. This disorder can also result from trauma during labor and delivery. The baby may also become deprived of oxygen, which causes brain damage. The risk of this complication is greater when a healthcare provider fails to notice signs of fetal distress.

Myth: All Children with Cerebral Palsy Have Communication Deficits
Many children with cerebral palsy do have difficulty with communication. However, a speech therapist can help them improve their skills. A speech therapist can show children how to use alternative communication methods, such as sign language, communication boards or cards, and electronic devices.

Myth: Nothing Can be Done to Ease the Financial Burden of Living with Cerebral Palsy
Another common myth about cerebral palsy is that children with serious deficits can never become independent, productive members of society. Children with severe impairments will indeed require lifelong care. Such care is very expensive. A jury award can help ease the financial burden families face when seeking lifelong care for their children.

If your child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you deserve to know the reasons why. At Pegalis & Erickson, our medical malpractice lawyers in Long Island, New York can thoroughly investigate your case to determine if medical malpractice led to your child’s birth injuries and cerebral palsy diagnosis. For more information, call (516) 684-2900 or visit us on the Web.

Thanks to public awareness campaigns, women have been empowered to take control of their wellness by evaluating their risk of heart and vascular disease. Yet, cardiovascular disease is also the leading cause of death in the U.S. for men. Men often rely on their doctors to provide screening recommendations and lifestyle advice. Unfortunately, misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis are not uncommon. Men can protect themselves from both medical malpractice and vascular disease by becoming better informed about health issues during Men’s Health Week, which is designated as the second week of June.

Aortic Disease
One type of vascular disease men may be diagnosed with is aortic disease. The aorta is the body’s largest artery. If the aorta is affected by vascular disease, it can dilate, or develop an aneurysm. An aneurysm is a bulging, weakened area of a blood vessel that may sometimes rupture. Or, the aorta may tear, which is known as dissection. Aortic disease can increase the risk of future life-threatening vascular problems. Some examples of conditions and diseases that can lead to aortic disease include high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, connective tissue disorders, and genetic conditions like Marfan syndrome.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)
When narrowed blood vessels cause a reduction of blood flow to the limbs, it is known as peripheral artery disease. If you have PAD, it means that the limbs, typically the legs, do not receive enough blood to meet the body’s needs. This can cause symptoms such as leg pain while walking, cramping, and slow healing sores. PAD can also indicate widespread atherosclerosis, which increases the risk of stroke and heart attack.

For more than 40 years, the medical malpractice team at Pegalis & Erickson has been successfully advocating for the rights of injured patients and their families. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries as a result of misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or other forms of medical negligence in Long Island, NY, you can call us right away at (516) 684-2900. Our medical negligence lawyers will carefully review your case and explain your legal options.

When you consult a medical malpractice lawyer, he or she will evaluate your case to determine which parties should be named as defendants. In some cases, this may include the hospital or clinic at which you received treatment. Your medical malpractice lawyer will need to know if you took the medication as it was prescribed to you or if a healthcare provider administered the medication. For example, a nurse may have injected a medication into your IV line. It may have been the wrong medication or the wrong dosage, or the medication may have been contraindicated for use because of other drugs that were prescribed to you. Under these circumstances, you could file a lawsuit against the hospital and responsible medical care providers because of medication errors.

Another reason why your medical malpractice lawyer might name the hospital as a defendant is if you delivered a child at the hospital and your baby was the victim of medication errors. For example, there have been cases where the wrong dosage of medication is given causing severe injury or even death.

If you or your child suffered injuries as a result of medication errors near Long Island, New York, you can pursue justice in court. For more information, call the medical malpractice law firm of Pegalis & Erickson at (516) 684-2900.

A cancer misdiagnosis can have devastating effects. If you or a loved one has suffered from this form of medical malpractice, you could visit a malpractice law firm to discuss your legal options. Cancer misdiagnosis can occur when a healthcare provider fails to order appropriate tests or fails to interpret test results correctly. This can result in costly delays in receiving a cancer diagnosis, which subsequently results in delayed treatment.

When a patient doesn’t undergo cancer treatment as quickly as possible, this gives the disease an opportunity to spread beyond its point of origin. The cancer may spread to the lymph nodes, for example, which allows it to more easily spread to other tissues and organs. When cancer has progressed in this manner, it is referred to as metastasized cancer. A patient’s prognosis when there is advanced cancer is generally much less favorable than it would have been for early stage cancer. In other words, cancer misdiagnosis may sometimes cost the patient his or her life. When patients do survive, they must typically undergo much more invasive and extensive treatments than they may have needed if their disease had been treated early.

A medical malpractice lawyer at Pegalis & Erickson can review your case during your free consultation. Call our malpractice law firm in Long Island, New York at (516) 684-2900 to learn more.