Cerebral Palsy Settlement Amounts

Our lawyers provide on this page information for families to better understand the range of verdicts and settlement compensation payouts in cerebral palsy lawsuits in 2024.

If you suspect your child’s cerebral palsy is due to medical negligence and would like to discuss your options for compensation, call 800-553-8082 or get a free, no-obligation online consultation.

Why File a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?

If your child has cerebral palsy, you want to do anything to give your child the best possible life. Millions of dollars are usually low on the list of what you need to raise a child.

But for a child with cerebral palsy, money makes a difference. Our cerebral palsy attorneys have seen this up close. So if you are interested in how much compensation you might receive for a settlement payout in a cerebral palsy case, it is probably because you desperately love your child.

• Take a look at how value is calculated in birth injury cases
• Example verdicts and settlements in cerebral palsy cases
• How to get financial help for your child suffering from CP
• Hire a cerebral palsy lawyer

How Does Cerebral Palsy Happen?

The following flowchart lists everyday events associated with cerebral palsy. The events in bold are usually suspicious of medical mistakes that cause cerebral palsy.

The more precise the cause of the CP, the more viable the lawsuit. Keep in mind this chart is merely a guide to potential malpractice. It does not mean medical malpractice-induced cerebral palsy is necessarily the cause of your child’s cerebral palsy.

Prenatal Period (Before Birth)

1. Genetics: Are there mutated genes? Mutated genes, although very rare, can cause cerebral palsy.
2. Infection: Did the mother or the child have an infection before birth (toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex 1 or 2, or other viral infections such as syphilis)? Any one of these organisms can cause cerebral palsy.
3. Placental Insufficiency: Is there evidence the placenta did not form properly or was damaged? This could cause cerebral palsy.
4. Prematurity (< 37 weeks old): children born prematurely commonly have periventricular leukomalacia, a fancy way of saying underdeveloped midbrain that could cause cerebral palsy.

Perinatal (During Birth)

1. Infection: Did the mother or the child have any of the following infections during birth (toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex 1 or 2, or other viral infections such as syphilis)? Any one of these organisms could cause cerebral palsy.
2. Oxygen Deprivation: Did the child suffer oxygen deprivation? This could be malpractice if it occurred during birth. Often, evidence of oxygen deprivation shows up on Fetal Heart Rate (FHR) monitoring strips during delivery. As a result of the lack of oxygen to the brain, the baby’s heart starts beating irregularly. When this occurs, an emergency C-section is usually necessary. This kind of injury could lead to cerebral palsy.

Postnatal Period (After Birth)

1. Head Trauma: This could be malpractice if the baby suffered head trauma while being delivered or later in the neonatal unit. Common red flags are if forceps or suction devices (vacuum) were used during the delivery.
2. Oxygen Deprivation: This could be malpractice if oxygen deprivation occurred immediately after the delivery.
3. Stroke: Strokes can cause cerebral palsy.
4. Infection: The most common postnatal infection-causing cerebral palsy is bacterial meningitis.

As you can see from the above, CP can be the product of many different things. The key to a successful malpractice case is identifying the cause and ruling out other causes.

Functional Tests

Functional tests for identifying potential causes are as follows:

1. Abnormal Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Strips: Are there late heart rate decelerations or a prolonged loss of heart rate variability? These are indications of fetal distress and potential oxygen deprivation.
2. Low APGAR Scores: These scores predict health within the first few minutes of birth. In general, the lower the scores, the greater the likelihood of brain damage.
3. Abnormal Cord Gases: Usually, cord gasses are measured at birth. Abnormal oxygen, carbon dioxide, or PH levels could indicate metabolic acidosis and oxygen deprivation. Normal cord gasses are as follows:
   • PH: Range is 7.35-7.45
   • PO2: Range is 75-100
   • PCO2: Range is 35 – 45
   • HCO3: Range is 18-23
   • Base Excess: Range is -8 to -0 (mmol/L)
4. Scans: Sometimes CT Scans, MRIs, or ultrasounds after birth identify damage to the areas of the brain involving motor function. These are good indicators of potential cerebral palsy.

How to Figure Out If You Have a Viable Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?

Approximately 2-3 in every 1000 live births result in cerebral palsy. But about 1 in every 12,000 live births is caused by something done wrong by a doctor, nurse, or hospital, resulting in oxygen deprivation. These are the types of cases that lend themselves to medical malpractice lawsuits.

If it can be proven that the baby appeared to be progressing normally during pregnancy, but the child began showing signs of fetal distress, it is likely someone did not act appropriately or quickly enough. There is a good chance that there is a basis for a medical negligence cerebral palsy lawsuit. The most common culprits are doctors, but nurses can also make mistakes leading to CP.

Rarely do the victim’s parents know one way or the other without hiring a cerebral palsy lawyer and having them collect the medical records to see what happened. Generally, the best cerebral palsy lawsuits are cases with a defined cause of injury.

The records will show whether the child was in distress and whether something could have been done to avoid the child’s oxygen deprivation.  No matter what the records show, the doctors’ cerebral palsy attorneys will argue that the fetal monitoring strips prove nothing.  But this argument defies common sense and the standard of care and juries have continued to reject it.

Examples of Settlements and Verdict in Cerebral Palsy Lawsuits

The average cerebral palsy settlement nationally seems to be in the $5 million range, supported by the settlements and verdicts below. That is an estimate based on our birth injury lawyers’ experience in handling these cerebral palsy lawsuits and closely following settlements and verdicts around the country.

Average cerebral palsy settlements and verdicts are not especially useful. Why? The reason is that economic damages vary so wildly from case to case and do not correlate well with how severely injured the child is or how good the negligence case was against the doctor (which has a significant indirect impact on the verdict amount).

Below are sample CP jury verdicts and settlement payouts that might better indicate the value of these cases. Again, as trite as it is to say, every case is different. It is impossible to determine the value of your child’s case by looking at statistics or even seeing the recovery in a similar case.

Not for nothing, hiring a top-rated cerebral palsy lawyer with a history of success is also a driver of large settlement amounts and verdicts at trial.

• 2024, Michigan: $120,000,000 Verdict:  A nearly full term pregnant woman urgently sought medical help noticing that her unborn baby had been inactive for an extended period. Fetal monitoring indicated clear distress, yet inexplicably, it took hours for a Cesarean section to be initiated. During the delay in getting a C-section, the baby’s fetal heart monitor showed a baby going into deeper and deeper distress.  After a four week trial, the jury agreed and awarded the family $120 million.
• 2024, Illinois: $14,086,548 Verdict: A young boy who suffered birth injuries at the University of Chicago Medical Center and later died at age four. The lawsuit alleged that UCMC’s emergency department staff delayed critical intervention during his mother’s emergency admission at 33 weeks’ gestation, failing to monitor the fetal heart rate in a timely manner and delaying an emergency delivery. The injuries resulted in the child’s blindness, cerebral palsy, and dependency on others until his death. The verdict includes awards for grief, disfigurement, loss of normal life, pain, and medical expenses, underscoring the jury’s strong rejection of the defense’s argument attributing the injury to pre-hospital complications. The verdict underscores that wrongful death lawsuits in cerebral palsy lawsuits can have real value in jurisdictions that do not have malpractice damage caps.
• 2023, Illinois: $55,500,000 Verdict:  A child was born via C-section due to concerning fetal heart readings. The delivery team was not exactly the most senior doctors. The attending physician, who was not board-certified, was completing her fellowship training. She worked alongside a senior fourth-year chief resident responsible for managing labor and delivery. The child experienced severe perinatal depression and metabolic acidosis, indicative of oxygen deprivation during labor. The lawsuit contended that these issues were related to Pitocin use, which compromised the baby’s oxygen supply, causing fetal tachycardia. The child now has cerebral palsy. The family’s birth injury lawsuit cited the medical team’s delay in halting Pitocin. Doctors and nurses certainly know that (1) excessive uterine activity, (2) troubling fetal heart readings, and (3) a mother at high risk are concerned enough to require at least getting more senior doctors involved.
• 2023, Arizona: $31,550,825 Verdict. During an uneventful pregnancy, an expecting mother went to the hospital for childbirth. Fetal heart monitoring indicated that the baby was in distress during delivery. The lawsuit claimed the delivery team continued to administer Pitocin instead of expediting delivery to prevent oxygen loss to the baby. As a result, the child sustained a brain injury leading to cerebral palsy. The family pursued a birth injury lawsuit, accusing the medical team of failing to respond properly to signs of inadequate blood flow and oxygenation to the fetus. They also argued that the use of Pitocin amidst these complications was improper, and there was a delay in performing a crucial cesarean section, leading to the injury.
• 2023, Pennsylvania: $182,737,791 Verdict. The infant suffered a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy brain injury and was later diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy (a very severe type of CP) with seizures, visual impairment, and gross motor delays. The child was going to require lifelong medical care and never have anything close to a normal life. The family’s cerebral palsy birth injury lawsuit claimed that a delay in the administration of antibiotics to treat the mother’s uterine infection and the delay in the performance of the Cesarean section allowed the infant to remain in an infected and compromised intrauterine environment for too long, resulting in perinatal infection and sepsis, leading to severe and permanent neurological damage.
• 2023, Indiana: $1,000,000 Settlement. A woman 37 weeks pregnant allegedly went to a hospital with ruptured membranes, was placed on a monitor to track contractions and the fetal heart rate, was removed from the monitor and instructed to walk in the hallway to hasten labor, suffered a prolapsed umbilical cord, and delivered the plaintiff via an emergency cesarean section. The plaintiff reportedly suffered permanent brain damage and spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and filed a lawsuit against the doctors and hospital. 
• 2023, New Jersey: $13,000,000 Settlement. A seven-month pregnant woman went to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. Her symptoms and signs indicated the baby was in distress, primarily due to a lack of oxygen resulting from a placental abruption. However, they did not act timely to deliver via cesarean section. The mother hired a malpractice lawyer who retained a medical expert who testified that the doctors should have acted quickly upon her arrival at the hospital. They would have diagnosed her condition and saved the child from severe distress if they had. Now at ten years old, Joe cannot walk or speak clearly, has reduced mental capacity, and frequently experiences seizures. The plaintiff argued that all these conditions could have been avoided if the child had been born 16 minutes earlier. The hospital denied liability and hired an expert to say it was appropriate to wait and monitor because a child born at 28 weeks could already have neurological issues. They felt it was reasonable to wait for confirmation of the placental abruption. The lawsuit ended in a $13 million settlement. The plaintiffs had a Medicaid lien of $480,553 and a debt of $37,450 for a loan used to cover household expenses and care for the child.
• 2022, New York: $2,500,472 Settlement. The plaintiff, an infant, said she suffered right spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy, iatrogenic prematurity, left middle cerebral artery infarct, cystic encephalomalacia, respiratory distress, a seizure disorder, right-sided hypertonicity, and developmental delays from injuries during birth. The plaintiff claimed the defendant was negligent in failing to timely and properly diagnose and treat a chlamydia infection, allowing or causing preterm labor and delivery due to the infection, and failing to timely and properly perform testing and re-testing for a chlamydia infection.
• 2021, Nevada: $1,525,000 Settlement. A newborn boy suffered hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. He developed tonic-clonic seizures. The boy now suffered from epilepsy. He also developed autism, intellectual disabilities, speech delays, astigmatism, and poor vision. The boy underwent strabismus surgery at two years old. His mother alleged negligence against the hospital. She claimed its staff failed to properly administer Pitocin, address fetal distress, and order an emergency C-section. This case resolved for a settlement amount of  $1,525,000.
• 2021, Missouri: $34,107,628 Verdict. A newborn boy sustained hypoxia. He suffered permanent brain damage. The boy developed cerebral palsy. His mother alleged negligence against the hospital. She claimed its staff improperly administered Pitocin, misread fetal heart tracings, and failed to address fetal distress. The jury awarded $34,107,628.
• 2020, New York: $5,891,304 Settlement. A baby boy was born at 25 weeks. He suffered hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. The boy developed cerebral palsy. He suffered from intellectual disabilities. The boy required a gastrointestinal tube for nutrition. He attended special education classes. The boy underwent occupational, physical, and speech therapy. He also used a wheelchair. His mother alleged negligence against the hospital. She claimed its staff provided negligence care, failed to provide brain cooling, and failed to receive her informed consent. This case resolved for a settlement amount of $5,891,304.
• 2020, New York: $3,862,000 Settlement. A baby boy suffered permanent brain damage at birth. He developed cerebral palsy. The boy was left with developmental delays. His mother alleged negligence against the hospital. She claimed its staff failed to address a dislocated shoulder, address fetal distress, and timely order a C-section.
• 2020, Indiana: $1,250,000 Settlement. A newborn girl suffered permanent birth injuries, including cerebral palsy. Her mother hired a birth injury lawyer who alleged the hospital’s negligence caused her CP. She settled for an undisclosed amount. We can guess it was probably only a $1 million insurance policy. But the damages to the child exceeded the settlement. She then filed a claim against the Indiana Patient Compensation Fund. This claim settled for $1,250,000. This claim would likely be worth a lot more if a larger insurance policy existed.

More Cerebral Palsy Settlement Amounts and Jury Payouts

• 2019, Michigan, $1,000,000 Settlement. A woman underwent the induction of a vaginal delivery. The medical staff placed an intrauterine pressure catheter, which perforated the placenta. The perforation caused a fetal heart rate drop. She had an emergency C-section. The newborn sustained an infarction and ischemic brain damage. He developed cerebral palsy and motor deficits. His mother claimed the hospital staff failed to appreciate her placenta previa and negligently punctured the placenta. This case settled for $1,000,000.
• 2019, Illinois: $21,000,000 Settlement. A newborn girl was delivered via an emergency C-section. She was born with low Apgar scores. The girl developed cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder. She now required round-the-clock care. Her mother alleged that the federal hospital’s negligence caused her permanent injuries. She claimed the hospital failed to appreciate her preeclampsia, failed to timely order an ultrasound, and failed to timely order a C-section. The defense denied liability. They argued that an unavoidable placental abruption caused the child’s injuries. This case settled for $21,000,000.
• 2019, Oklahoma: $7,500,000 Settlement. A newborn boy sustained severe metabolic acidosis and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy at birth. He developed spastic quadriplegia and cerebral palsy. The now 3-year-old boy could not speak, had microcephaly, and suffered from developmental delays. His parents alleged that the tribal hospital’s negligence caused his permanent injuries. They claimed its staff negligently administered Pitocin, failed to administer intrauterine resuscitation measures, and timely perform a C-section. This case settled for $7,500,000.
• 2018, Michigan: $130,571,897 Verdict. A premature newborn was discharged within two days. At two weeks old, he underwent an ultrasound. It revealed hydronephrosis. The boy then underwent a renal scan. He turned blue after the staff established the IV line. The hospital staff failed to check his pulse and administer chest compressions, causing oxygen deprivation. As a result, the boy developed cerebral palsy. The boy’s mother alleged that the hospital staff’s failure to timely treat his cyanosis caused this. A jury awarded her $130,571,897.
• 2017, Pennsylvania: $14,480,000 Verdict. The parents of a child with spastic tetraparesis cerebral palsy filed a lawsuit alleging that the OB administered excessive Pitocin to the mother. Pitocin is a drug used to expedite the delivery process that, when misused, often leads to birth injuries. The hospital’s protocol wisely prohibited the use of Pitocin in cases where the mother is dilating. It is hard to run from your own hospital’s protocols. So the doctor and the hospital trotted out the “blame the mother” defense, arguing the obesity of the mother and fetal exposure to second-hand smoke. The defense lawyers also hired experts also contended that the placenta was abnormally small for the size of the fetus and could not sustain the necessary oxygenation during labor. The jury found the doctor 60 percent negligent and the hospital 40% responsible, awarding $14.48 million for past and future medical expenses, future lost wages, and past and future pain and suffering.
• 2017, Illinois: $12,000,000 Settlement. A newborn girl suffered HIE-related brain damage that resulted in spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and permanent impairment. Her lawsuit contended that the obstetrician/gynecologist negligently failed to respond to recurrent late decelerations indicating a nonreassuring fetal heart rate. She and her mother contended that already excessive administration of Oxycontin should have been discontinued, and there should not have been a delay in proceeding with a Cesarean section delivery. The case settled before trial for $12 million.
• 2017, Florida: $3,075,000 Settlement. A mother-to-be arrives at the hospital three days past her due date to induce labor. After the spontaneous rupture of membranes and administration of an epidural, the fetal monitor tracings showed prolonged decelerations, a clear sign the baby is in distress. Still, the doctors administered Pitocin to her the next day to induce delivery with a vacuum. The boy was diagnosed with anoxic seizures, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and spastic cerebral palsy secondary to his brain injury.
• 2016, Pennsylvania: $7,270,000 Settlement. A woman becomes pregnant with her second child and seeks care from the same facility as her first pregnancy. Her prenatal course is uncomplicated. She went to the hospital for induction of Pitocin and attempted a vaginal birth. This was recommended to her during her prenatal care, even though her prior child was born via Cesarean section. When she is admitted to the hospital, fetal heart monitoring is reassuring. However, her membranes have ruptured by the evening, and amniotic fluid is clear. She is fully dilated the following day and spends five hours attempting to deliver her child. The infant’s head is delivered, but its nasal passages are filled with thick meconium. When the rest of the body is delivered, there is no respiratory effect. None of the doctors present during the delivery are qualified in neonatal resuscitation, nor are they qualified to intubate. When emergency personnel arrive, the infant has been in respiratory distress for eight minutes and has suffered birth asphyxia. As a result, the infant suffers from cerebral palsy with irreversible brain injury. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants were negligent in failing to implement a reasonable care plan for delivery based on the plaintiff’s history and by failing to promptly resuscitate the infant. The parties settled for $7,270,000.
• 2016, Illinois: $53,000,000 Verdict. A newborn male is under the care of doctors at the University of Chicago Medical Center during his birth. The staff at the hospital fails to diagnose and treat him, fails to perform a Cesarean section, and fails to maintain good quality electronic fetal monitoring, among many other allegations. As a result, the newborn suffers severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy. The hospital denies liability, but the jury awards the child and her family $53,000,000.
• 2016, Oregon:$13,000,000 Settlement. A woman goes to the hospital, planning to give birth underwater. She is told she is an ideal candidate for this and that it is safe, even though the baby’s fetal heart rate is abnormal. The heart rate is not continuously monitored. Eventually, she is taken out of the water, and the baby is delivered. Due to the delay in realizing there was a problem, the baby’s brain is damaged due to a deprivation of oxygen and blood. As a result, the baby suffers from cerebral palsy and cannot walk or talk. The plaintiffs claim that the midwives told them they would consult the obstetricians during a water birth and that the doctors were negligent in not performing an immediate Caesarian section. The case settles before trial, with the plaintiff being awarded $13,000,000.
• 2016, Kentucky:$18,270,052 Verdict. A woman arrives at the hospital to have her labor induced. The doctor gives her Pitocin but leaves orders that she get a C-section if she has more than four contractions per hour. When she has four contractions in an hour, they still wait six hours to deliver. The baby is deprived of oxygen, stuck in the birth canal, and suffers a hypoxic brain injury. This trauma results in quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The woman claims that the staff and hospital were negligent as they failed to deliver the infant quickly and they failed to comply with the doctor’s orders. The defendants deny liability. A jury awards the plaintiff $9,000,797 in future medical expenses, $1,505,940 in impaired earning capacity, $2,800,000 in past suffering, and $4,500,398 in future suffering.
• 2015, New York: $52,681,017 Verdict. A female is administered Pitocin during her labor, but the doctors do not monitor the baby’s fetal heart tracing after the drug is administered. She develops tachysystole during the mother’s labor (more than the typical number of contractions). No one is paying attention. As a result, the infant suffers brain damage, spastic cerebral palsy, motor delays, neurological and cognitive deficits, and cannot walk. The plaintiff claims that the doctors departed from the standard of care, and a jury agrees, awarding her $52,781,017.
• 2015, New York: $5,681,818 Settlement. A woman has her baby delivered via a Cesarean section at the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. However, the baby suffers from brain damage, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, and neurological/cognitive deficits. Plaintiff alleges that the doctors fail to realize the significance of vital signs, fail to develop a plan for delivery after reading the vital signs, fail to recognize the signs and symptoms of fetal distress, and fail to motor the fetus with a fetal heart rate monitor. The doctors deny liability, but the parties settle for $5.6 million before trial.
• 2015, California: $3,000,000 Settlement. A female is giving birth to her son when the doctors do not realize she is failing to dilate and fail to order to perform a timely Caesarean section. As a result, the newborn suffers from severe encephalopathy, severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and speech impairment. The plaintiffs contend the doctors were negligent in their rendering of medical care and treatment during delivery. While the defendants deny liability, the jury agrees with the plaintiffs and awards them $3,000,000.
• 2015, California: $9,852,805 Verdict. A mother with two prior pregnancies and vaginal deliveries is pregnant and receiving prenatal care at Northeastern Rural Health Clinic and experiences no problems throughout her pregnancy. She is admitted to a hospital while in labor and quickly dilates. The fetal monitor tracing begins to show decelerations, and the cervical dilation stops. The fetal monitor strip progressively begins to show deeper decelerations, so the doctor has the mother begin to push even though she is not entirely dilated. After an hour, he orders a Cesarean section. The fetal heart tones are lost in the operating room, and the doctor asks for her to be given general anesthesia. Her surgery begins, and the baby is delivered. The baby is resuscitated and transferred to the Medical Center for brain cooling. He is then diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. He has CP and frequent seizures, requiring 24-hour care through a home health agency. The plaintiff hires a cerebral palsy lawyer and files a lawsuit, arguing that the standard of care requires a C-section. In a bench trial, the judge awards $9,852,805.
• 2015, California:$3,500,000 Settlement. A mother and father argue that the doctors at Loma Linda University Medical Center failed to provide them with a Spanish interpreter during the labor and delivery of their child. Therefore, they were not adequately informed of the baby’s condition, the risks, and available treatment options. As a result, the newborn suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, microcephaly, cortical blindness, and intellectual disability. The mother suffers emotional distress. The defendants agreed to settle this claim for a lump sum settlement of $3,500,000.
• 2015, California: $5,530,000 Settlement. A mother is under the care of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center during the delivery of her son. She alleges the doctors mismanaged her labor and her son’s delivery, and as a result, her son suffers from severe brain damage and cerebral palsy, and she suffers from emotional distress. A settlement agreement is executed, awarding $5,530,000.
• 2015, Idaho: $7,200,000 Settlement. A mother, in good health and without any abnormal prenatal risk factors, presents to a Nampa clinic for routine prenatal care. About five months into her pregnancy, her fundal height begins slightly lagging, and this continues happening along with weight loss. These symptoms mean that a mother is at risk for intrauterine growth restriction. However, the clinic and physicians do not order testing, classify the pregnancy as being at high risk, and do not deliver the baby. As she continues to go for checkups, lab results show a concerning level of proteinuria, but still no consult with a specialist was ordered. She goes to the hospital experiencing contractions with severely high blood pressure, and the doctor begins the labor and delivery flow sheet that night. The doctors at the hospital do not review her history from the clinic and are unaware of the growth problems documented there. Throughout the night, the nurse notifies the doctor of the high blood pressure and the fetal heart rate concerns, and a pattern of terminal bradycardia manifests. Even though fetal distress is on the minoring strip, and there were fetal growth problems for weeks before, the doctors do not call for an obstetrical consult for some time in violation of the standard of care. Eventually, an emergency cesarean section is ordered based on the same pattern of the monitoring strip that had persisted for over two hours. After the emergency cesarean section, a full resuscitation is done, and the baby is in the NICU for about a month. As a result, the baby suffers from an irreversible brain injury and cerebral palsy. The case settles for $7,200,000.
• 2015, Florida: $23,197,134 Settlement. A woman goes to Peace River Regional Medical Center, where she receives prenatal care with decreased fetal movement and high blood pressure. She is discharged the same day. Three days later, she returns with high blood pressure and gives birth to her baby. As a result of the failure to properly treat the mother’s preeclampsia, the baby is born with a severe brain injury resulting in cerebral palsy. A jury awards the infant $23,187,134.
• 2015, Wisconsin: $1,400,000 Settlement. During delivery, an infant demonstrates a fetal heart rate pattern that requires immediate delivery. However, the doctors fail to recognize this and perform the appropriate delivery. As a result, the infant suffers a hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. The parties settle for $1,400,000.
• 2014, New York: $5,000,000 Settlement. A woman goes to Mount Sinai Hospital for the birth of her daughter. The doctors fail to diagnose her intrauterine growth restriction. They do not note her history of miscarriages. The doctors also do not tell her that the fetus is not growing correctly. As a result, the infant suffers prematurity, growth restriction, respiratory distress, permanent hypertonic cerebral palsy, and many other disorders. The defendant denies any liability but settles the claim for $5,000,000.
• 2014, New York: $3,065,899 Settlement. A mother is under the care of midwives during the delivery of her son. She begins showing objective signs of fetal distress, such as meconium staining and nonreassuring fetal heart readings, but the midwives fail to convert the delivery to a Cesarean section delivery. As a result, the infant suffers spastic-dyskinetic cerebral palsy as his brain was oxygen deprived, and he suffered a neurologic injury during the vaginal birth. The parties agree to settle for $3,065,899.17.
• 2014, Virginia: $5,550,000 Verdict. A woman is in labor at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center when she shows nonreassuring fetal heart tracings. The doctors do not perform an emergency Caesarean section. The child suffers from hemiplegic cerebral palsy and developmental delays, which were caused by birth injuries, including asphyxia and sepsis, among other injuries. The jury awards the plaintiff $5,550,000 in compensation. The verdict is later reduced to $1,265,000 based on a high-how settlement agreement.
• 2014, Pennsylvania: $7,000,000 Settlement. An eight-month-old goes to the ER three times within ten days. Each time, he is diagnosed with either an ear infection, upper respiratory infection, or resolving fever, and given antibiotics, fever reducers, and cough medicine, and discharged. Two days after the last visit, he returns, and he is diagnosed with sepsis and immediately transferred to the Children’s Hospital, where he stays for about three months. As a result of the delay in recognizing the symptoms of occult bacteremia and sepsis, he suffers from cerebral palsy, seizures, cortical blindness, and neurological dysfunction. He brings suit against the doctors and hospital, and the parties settle for $7,000,000.
• 2014, Massachusetts: $5,250,000 Confidential Settlement. A pregnant female arrives at the emergency room complaining of extreme leg pain. The obstetrician and surgeon discharge her despite her extreme pain and abnormal lab results. Twenty-four hours later, she returns, as the infection is becoming more severe, and she is told she suffers from severe sepsis. Her infant is delivered preterm, suffers severe hypoxic brain damage due to the mother’s sepsis, and is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. They bring a cerebral palsy lawsuit against the physicians for medical malpractice, and the matter is resolved for a compensation payout of $5,250,000 in a confidential settlement.
• 2014, Pennsylvania:$32,800,000 Verdict. A pregnant female goes to Phoenixville Hospital after going into labor and is placed on a fetal heart monitor. The baby begins to suffer a heart deceleration, which becomes bradycardia. However, the nurses fail to inform the physician of this, and as a result, the infant sustains brain damage and cerebral palsy. The mother files a suit for malpractice, and while the defendant denies the accusations, the jury awards $31 million in future medical expenses, $1 million in non-economic damages, and $800,000 for lost earning capacity.
• 2012: $4,380,000 Massachusetts Settlement –Mother presents for labor and delivery and comes under the care of Defendant labor and delivery nurse and Defendant second-year resident. There are too many malpractice cases that come from giving residents too much responsibility and you see that with some of the cerebral palsy lawsuits above as well. Anyway, the child is born with a profound injury to its basal ganglia and is diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a result of the neurological damage that occurred before birth. Plaintiff files a lawsuit contending that the Defendants failed to properly monitor the infant by failing to employ intrauterine measures to monitor labor. Plaintiff further contends that they could not realize that there were signs of
  fetal distress through her second stage of labor that were there to be seen. Usual defense: the child’s neurological injuries were unrelated to the care and treatment. The parties agreed to a confidential settlement payout of $4,380,000 before trial.
• 2012: $36,737,660 Florida Verdict – Plaintiff presents to a women’s center and is advised that she is 22.3 weeks into a pregnancy. Due to the gestational age and complications involved with a prior delivery of another child, Plaintiff decides to terminate the pregnancy. She is given the first injection of Cytotec and one injection of RU-486. The injections occur over 11 hours without an examination by a physician. After failing to complete the abortion, the Plaintiff leaves the facility. Several hours later, Plaintiff presents to a medical center where a child is delivered via C-section. The child suffers from severe CP and cannot speak, walk, or care for herself. The family contends that if she’d been seen by a doctor and given a sonogram, there was a reasonable expectation that the doctor would have determined that her fetus was viable and abortion was no longer an option. The plaintiff contends there was no medical personnel available at the facility. Defendants argue that if Plaintiff had stayed, the abortion would have been completed. The case was initially dismissed but later reversed and reinstated. Ultimately, the jury awarded $18,737,660.16 in compensatory damages to the child and the family, including $432,305.16 for past medical damages and $18,275,355 for the child’s future life care. This jury was also pretty mad, awarding an additional $18 million in punitive damages.
• 2012: $21,000,000 Verdict in Maryland. A Glen Burnie, Maryland couple alleges their son’s doctors at Johns Hopkins should have delivered him by C-section instead of a prolonged vaginal birth that leads to oxygen deprivation and cerebral palsy. Doctors argued that ultrasounds showed no brain swelling after birth, which is what you might expect from a lack of oxygen to the brain. Thankfully, the child suffered no mental injuries but had a myriad of physical problems. Still, the jury awarded $18 million for future medical expenditures, $2 million for future lost wages, and $1 million for non-economic pain and suffering.
• 2012: $5,000,000 Settlement in Washington. A baby girl is born limp and pale, with no respiratory effort and a heart rate of 30. She is resurrected and taken to the nursery for observation. Spontaneous rupture of the membranes occurred four hours before the delivery, and the fluid was clear then. At 25-27 hours of life, the infant develops seizures and is transferred to a children’s hospital. Months later, the infant is diagnosed with cerebral palsy and dystonic quadriplegia. Doctors at the children’s center had difficulty determining the underlying etiology of the infant’s hypoxic-ischemic injury. Still, medical records indicate that the fetal heart monitoring strips show “good beat-to-beat variability,” indicating that the injuries may have occurred before labor and delivery. The treating neurologist indicates that her injuries may have occurred during a period of delayed fetal movement earlier in the pregnancy, while other treating physicians indicate multiple causes of CP, including infection, genetic disorders, trauma, and others. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants failed to identify signs of fetal distress, including uterine hyperstimulation, and that Defendants lost the fetal heart tracing for the last hour and a half of labor. Defendants testify that there was no violation of the standard of care and that she did not fit the strict criteria for having sustained an intrapartum hypoxic-ischemic injury. They claim the injury occurred before labor and delivery. After an unsuccessful mediation, the parties eventually reached a cerebral palsy malpractice settlement one week before the trial.
• 2012: $103,075,618 Verdict in New York. A woman in her 25th week of gestation presents to the hospital complaining of a painful abdomen. Several hours later, it is determined that she was experiencing labor. Delivery is promptly performed, and she gives birth to twins, concluding a problematic final stage of pregnancy. Two weeks before this event, she experienced a premature rupture of her amniotic membrane, was admitted to the hospital, monitored, and prescribed rest. It is determined that one of the twins has cerebral palsy. The suit is filed. The family hires a cerebral palsy attorney who filed a lawsuit that alleges the doctors and hospital failed to recognize the onset of labor because the contractions on the fetal heart monitor were misunderstood or ignored. Plaintiffs additionally contend an episiotomy or C-section delivery would have prevented the injuries. The child and the family won big. They received compensation of $103,075,618. This was broken down several ways: $17,000,000 for past pain and suffering; $60,000,000 for future pain and suffering; $247,219 for future surgeries; $1,785,161 for rehabilitation (60 years); $8,240,175 for medical equipment and other medical expenses (for 60 years); $10,022,315 for assisted living (30 years); and $5,780,449 for future lost earnings (40 years).
• More CP verdicts and settlements in Maryland\

So Many Mistakes Doctors Can Make to Cause Cerebral Palsy

As you can see from the above examples, so many errors can occur during the birth of a baby. Sometimes, the mom can pick up on mistakes the doctors are making. What parents tell us about the labor and delivery process can be crucial, and often, the parents know if something is not quite right.

So it pays to be vigilant and aware of what happens during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Did the doctor let the labor go on too long? Did something not feel right inside your body, but no one would listen? The earlier you start talking about these things, the more clearly you and everyone involved will remember all the little details that could make a difference in your case.

If your child’s condition could have been avoided if things had been done correctly, trying to get restitution for those mistakes makes sense. Can any amount of money fix the mistakes? No. But at least you may be able to get the best care, equipment, and chance to make your life as normal and happy as possible.

As the years go on, more innovations will make life easier for these precious children. But these innovations usually come at a very hefty price. Birth injury lawsuits help pay that price.

Getting the Right Cerebral Palsy Lawyer for Your Family

If you are concerned your child may have a birth injury, and you think a doctor could be responsible for the harm that was done, you need a top-rated cerebral palsy law firm to fight for your child and your family. Why? Having the best lawyer for your case is a huge difference-maker when it comes to cerebral palsy settlement amounts or jury payouts.   Call 800-553-8082 anywhere in the United States or get a free no-obligation Internet consultation.