Tom and Donna Tribble, the grandparents and legal guardians of nine-year-old Elliana, recently settled their lawsuit claiming cerebral palsy lawsuit for $7.5 million. Their lawsuit addressed their granddaughter’s cerebral palsy, a disorder associated with movement, muscle tone, and posture problems caused by birth injury malpractice or abnormal fetal brain development.

Plaintiffs File Birth Injury Lawsuit

The Tribble lawsuit, which took place in Chicago court, accused Christ Medical Center of birth injury malpractice. Elliana was born at Christ Medical in 2002, and the plaintiffs allege that during her birth, the center’s doctors and nurses did not respond quickly enough to signs of fetal distress. As a result, Elliana allegedly suffered oxygen deprivation, which caused her to experience severe brain damage. When she was just one-year-old, doctors diagnosed Elliana with cerebral palsy; she is now wheelchair-bound and faces severe physical limitations that require assistance with everyday living.

Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit Settles for $7.5 Million

Though Christ Medical Center admits no birth injury malpractice and state that their medical staff acted correctly, in December 2011 the center agreed to settle their lawsuit due to a birth injury for $7.5 million – the second multi-million dollar settlement of the year. The plaintiffs will put the settlement toward Elliana’s daily care, and will invest in an electric wheelchair that their granddaughter can control with head movements.

Birth Injury Malpractice Can Result in Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy has several causes, among them random gene mutations, fetal stroke, traumatic head injuries, infant infections, and during delivery, low oxygen resulting in brain damage – a primary cerebral palsy lawsuit claim. Risks also increase with breech births, premature infants, and multiples (twins, triplet, quads, or more). Children with cerebral palsy present stiff or floppy muscles that may cause spastic or jerky movements; they may also have difficulty walking, show developmental delays for sitting up or crawling, and may have slow speech development. Symptoms range from mild to severe, and children with cerebral palsy may also have hearing or vision problems, seizures, and mental retardation.