Jonathan Schochor and Kerry Staton have devoted decades to helping Maryland families recover after catastrophic birth injuries. We have secured life-changing verdicts and settlements for children with cerebral palsy and other preventable conditions. Our seasoned trial team at Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. combines medical insight, courtroom skill, and heartfelt compassion, qualities families in Olney and across Montgomery County need most right now.
Our Baltimore headquarters is an easy drive from Olney, and we routinely serve parents whose children were delivered at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center or nearby hospitals. We offer free consultations, work on a contingency-fee basis, and invest firm resources to hire the nation’s leading obstetric, neonatal, and neurology experts. When you call (410) 234-1000, you speak directly with an experienced Olney cerebral palsy lawyer who understands both the medicine and the law.
What Is Cerebral Palsy and How Can Medical Negligence Cause It?
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of permanent neurological disorders that impair a child’s movement, posture, and muscle control. The condition stems from damage to the developing brain, often during labor, delivery, or the newborn period. While genetics and unpreventable prenatal factors play a role in some cases, many children develop CP because doctors, nurses, or hospitals failed to follow basic safety protocols.
When health-care providers overlook fetal distress, delay emergency action, or mishandle a complicated delivery, oxygen starvation or direct trauma can irreversibly injure the infant’s brain and lead to cerebral palsy.
Could Better Medical Care Have Prevented My Child’s Cerebral Palsy?
For far too many Olney families, the answer is yes. A healthy pregnancy followed by unexpected complications in the delivery room is a red flag. If you noticed frantic activity around the fetal monitor, heard staff mention low Apgar scores, or were told “sometimes these things just happen,” your child’s cerebral palsy may have been avoidable.
Our Olney birth injury attorneys investigate medical records, interview witnesses, and consult specialists to determine whether sub-standard care, not fate, caused your child’s brain injury.
Birth Injuries and Medical Mistakes That Lead to Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy often results from a specific, preventable event that deprives the brain of oxygen or causes bleeding. Common errors we uncover include:
- Delayed Emergency Cesarean Section – Failing to perform a prompt C-section when monitors show fetal distress.
- Ignored Fetal Oxygen Deprivation – Misreading or dismissing abnormal heart-rate tracings that signal the baby is suffocating.
- Improper Use of Forceps or Vacuum – Excessive traction or angle errors that fracture the skull or bleed the brain.
- Unmanaged Umbilical Cord Problems – Allowing a prolapsed or tightly wrapped cord to cut off oxygen without immediate intervention.
- Untreated Severe Jaundice – Letting bilirubin soar to toxic levels, triggering kernicterus and permanent brain damage.
- Delayed Neonatal Resuscitation – Failing to intubate, ventilate, or transfer a distressed newborn to the NICU.
Less familiar but equally devastating mistakes include anesthesia mishaps during an urgent C-section, improper dosing of labor-inducing drugs, and overlooking maternal infections that reach the fetus. If any of these scenarios mirror your experience, our Montgomery County cerebral palsy lawyers can give you clear answers.
How Do We Prove a Maryland Cerebral Palsy Malpractice Case?
Winning compensation requires showing four elements:
- Duty of Care – The physician or hospital owed mother and child competent medical treatment.
- Breach – They violated the accepted standard of obstetric or neonatal care.
- Causation – That violation directly caused the brain damage leading to cerebral palsy.
- Damages – Your child now faces lifelong physical, emotional, and financial losses.
Our attorneys secure complete medical records, fetal monitor strips, and imaging studies, then partner with board-certified obstetricians, neonatologists, and pediatric neurologists. Under Maryland law, we also file a Certificate of Qualified Expert, a sworn statement from a physician confirming malpractice, before bringing suit. You focus on your child’s therapy. We handle the complex medical and legal proof.
