What Evidence Do I Need to File a Cerebral Palsy Negligence Claim?

Getting diagnosed with cerebral palsy is a life-changing experience. Beyond the immediate medical questions, many parents find themselves asking: Could this have been prevented?

For some families, answering that question may require looking closely at how the pregnancy, labour, or delivery was managed and whether appropriate care was provided.

Cerebral palsy in itself is not proof that something went wrong. This condition can be a result of several factors such as genetics, infections, or complications that nobody could have foreseen or prevented.

But there are cases where the condition may be linked to factors that could have been prevented, such as oxygen deprivation, delayed intervention, or problems with the management of labour or delivery. In these cases, the goal is to understand what happened, whether the care met the expected standard, and whether that care caused or contributed to the child’s condition.

Why Evidence Is the Foundation of the Claim

Under Ontario law, a family cannot recover compensation simply because a child has this condition. To succeed, a claim must show that a healthcare provider had a responsibility to provide proper care, failed to meet the expected standard of care, and that this failure caused or contributed to the child’s condition.

At each of these junctions, claims must be supported by medical records and expert opinions. For this reason, the evidence-gathering stage is important.

Without a clear, substantive record, even a case with strong facts can be difficult to prove. A skilled medical malpractice lawyer can identify what evidence is important, where to find it, and how it can help establish what happened.

The Starting Point in a Cerebral Palsy Negligence Claim: Medical Records

Medical records are an important category of evidence in this type of claim. They include:

• Prenatal records: These hold documentation on the mother’s health throughout the pregnancy, such as warning signs of infections, placental abnormalities, or signs of fetal distress that may have gone unaddressed.
• Labour and delivery records: these records can be particularly important because they may include information about the fetal heart rate, medications administered, timing of interventions, and use of forceps or vacuum extraction. The records can reveal whether staff responded appropriately or not to signs of distress.
• Postnatal and neonatal records: These capture information about the child’s condition immediately after birth, the Apgar scores, evidence of oxygen deprivation, and any early treatments or diagnoses related to brain injury.

Together, these records help build the story of what happened, whether something went wrong, when it went wrong, and whether the care provided may have contributed to the child’s condition.

Expert Medical Opinion

Relying on medical reports alone to tell the whole story can be unreliable. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer will usually work with independent experts, such as obstetricians, neonatologists, and pediatric neurologists, to review the case file and offer their opinion on whether the care met the expected standards.

The experts play two roles in this process:

• First, they help determine whether a healthcare provider provided the appropriate level of care in the circumstances.
• Second, they help establish whether the injury was caused by negligent care or an unrelated or unavoidable factor.

Since cerebral palsy can have multiple causes, the second step can be difficult. This is where the input of an experienced medical expert can play an important role.

Witness Accounts and Testimony

Together with documentation, accounts of those who were present during labour and delivery can add other viewpoints that the records may not capture. Nurses, attending doctors, and sometimes other hospital staff may be asked to describe what they observed. Parents can also recollect what they were told at that time, especially if there is a gap between what was documented and what was communicated.

Imaging, Diagnostic Tests, and Ongoing Care Records

Evidence can be obtained from several places. Imaging studies such as MRIs or CT scans, developmental assessments, and records of therapies and treatments the child has undergone help to establish the complexity of the injury and its lifelong impact. This information can also help establish the child’s future care needs and the costs associated with that care, including therapy and other support.

Why Timing Matters When Gathering Evidence

One challenge is that evidence can become harder to obtain and interpret as time passes. Hospital records become harder to retrieve over time, and medical staff’s recollection of a delivery can fade. Consulting a lawyer early, even before you conclude whether to pursue a birth injury claim, can help ensure that important evidence is identified and gathered while it is still available.

An early legal review does not mean a family has to go through court proceedings. An initial legal review can help a family understand what evidence exists, what it may show, and what steps, if any, should be taken next.

How a Lawyer Builds Your Case

A medical malpractice lawyer’s roles extend beyond collecting paperwork. From the start, they will identify which records to request, retain appropriate medical experts, and assess whether the facts support a viable claim. As the case is built, they organize the evidence to understand what care was provided, whether that care met the expected standard, and whether it caused or contributed to the child’s condition.

This process requires not just legal expertise, but also ample medical knowledge and the resources to see a complex case through to the end. Claims like these can take considerable time to build, which is why it can be helpful to have an experienced legal team guide the process.

Sommers Roth & Elmaleh Lawyers Are the Experienced Experts You Need

At Sommers Roth & Elmaleh, we acknowledge that a cerebral palsy diagnosis can alter the life of a family in ways that extend past the walls of a delivery room. We have represented families across Ontario in complex birth injury claims involving prolonged care needs.

Some of our cases include an $8 million award to a girl with cerebral palsy caused by prolonged tachysystole during labour and a recovery of over $15.6 million for a girl with cerebral palsy for an obstetrician’s botched forceps and vacuum delivery.

If you are convinced that your child’s condition may be connected to some form of medical malpractice, our team can help you understand what evidence may support a claim and what your options are under Ontario’s law. Speak with us today at 1-844-940-2386 or contact us online to learn more.