Cerebral Palsy (CP)

Cerebral palsy, or CP, is a group of lifelong disorders that affect a person's ability to move and keep their balance and posture. It results from abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain. Symptoms range from mild clumsiness to being unable to walk, and some people also have seizures, speech difficulties, or intellectual disability. CP does not get worse over time, though symptoms can change, and there is no cure.

The CDC calls cerebral palsy the most common motor disability in childhood and says 85% to 90% of cases are congenital, meaning they stem from brain injury or abnormal development before or during birth. Spastic CP, marked by stiff muscles, affects about 80% of people with the condition. Risk factors include premature birth, low birth weight, infections during pregnancy, and complications during labor and delivery.

In the legal world, CP most often appears in birth injury malpractice claims. Those cases argue that a medical team failed to recognize fetal distress, delayed a needed cesarean delivery, or mishandled oxygen deprivation, and that the delay caused brain damage. Not every case of CP is caused by a medical error, and many are not, so these claims require detailed review of the delivery records by medical experts. CP has also been alleged as an injury in some product cases involving premature infants.

Because lifetime care costs can be very high, CP claims are individual lawsuits, not class actions. Deadlines vary by state, and some states extend them for children. Gather prenatal records, labor and delivery records, fetal monitoring strips, and neonatal care records. Our guide on class action versus individual lawsuit explains the difference, and our infant brain damage entry covers related terms.