Cerebral Palsy Glossary
- C -
Case law: Law based on previous decisions of appellate courts.
Central Nervous System: Includes the brain and the spinal cord. The central nervous system receives sensory impulses from the rest of the nervous system and then controls the body's response to those impulses.
Cesarean Section: Surgical removal of a baby from the womb through a surgical opening in the abdominal. A cesarean section may performed if the birth canal of the mother is too narrow; the placenta is not in a proper location; the fetus is breech or otherwise; the fetus is experiencing fetal distress; or the mother is in danger.
Cerebral Palsy: A general term for a group of permanent brain injuries that affect an infant in the womb, during birth, or in the months following birth. Cerebral palsy patients may have limited motor skills, speech difficulties, learning disabilities, or other problems.
Chorea: Uncontrollable, jerky movements of the toes and fingers.
Civil: Generally pertains to disputes, not involving crimes, including family matters, contracts, collection of debts, and compensation for personal injury or property loss.
Collateral source rule: Compensation awarded to an injured party shall not be reduced by the amount of compensation available to him from his insurance company or other independent sources.
Cognitive Functions: The skills of the brain including memory, attention, and concentration.
Common law: Law that derives its authority solely from past laws and judgements.
Comparative negligence: The doctrine of comparing degrees of fault among the responsible parties.
Complaint, civil: The first pleading in a civil case filed by the plaintiff. It alleges the material facts and legal theories to support the plaintiff's claim against the defendant.
Contingency fee: A fee arrangement in which the plaintiff and his attorney agree that the fees due to the attorney will be determined by the amount of the judgment awarded to the plaintiff.
Continuance: The adjournment or delay of a scheduled session of a court.
Cross-examination: The questioning of a witness of one party by the opposing party during a trial, hearing or deposition.
CT Scan: Computed tomography scan. May be used to determine the cause of cerebral palsy in a child. This test scans the brain, looking for abnormalities and areas that have not properly developed.
"After all the information came out, I was bitter. But eventually I put it in my heart to forgive.
It's not about the money, but it helps a lot, because brain injury causes a lot of problems that
you don't know about early on."
"First, you cry. You bawl. You ask yourself, 'why me?' But then I looked at Nathan and I
thought, 'He's exactly the same kid he was before. Now you just know more.'"
"I would tell anyone who's had an experience like ours to keep asking questions.
Don't let them go unanswered. Get a qualified lawyer to look into your case, and don't give up hope."
"The saddest moment came when Ken told us that if Lizzy had been born any time between when I came
in at 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., she would be fine. The doctor had misread the fetal monitoring strips.
She had made a mistake."
