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Cerebral Palsy

Removing Financial Barriers for Persons Receiving Disability Assistance

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The British Columbia government recently announced significant changes coming to disability assistance in the province.

Beginning Dec. 1, 2015, people in BC receiving disability assistance will be able to hold substantially more assets without impacting their eligibility for assistance. Individuals designated Persons with Disabilities (PWD) will soon be able to hold $100,000 in assets, and a couple where both partners have PWD designation will be able to hold $200,000 in assets. This is a significant increase from the current limits of $5,000 and $10,000, respectively. The higher asset limit means that money received through inheritance would not have to be put aside in a trust.

As well, people with disabilities will be able to receive cash gifts without affecting their eligibility for assistance. Under the current regime, individuals receiving assistance can only receive one-time gifts without their eligibility being affected. There will also no longer be an annual limit on payments people receiving assistance can receive from trusts. Currently, there is an $8,000 annual cap on trust payments for activities that promote independence.

Almost 96,000 people in BC are designated as PWD and receive assistance from the provincial government. These changes will give them greater independence and choice in enhancing their financial security, and also give their families, friends, and community groups an opportunity to provide additional support without impacting eligibility. The new policies are part of Accessibility 2024 – BC’s 10-year action plan to increase accessibility and remove barriers, with the goal of making BC the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities.

September is Disability Employment Month in BC

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Most people know that people with disabilities have to overcome challenges – challenges in finding accessible housing, using public transportation, and finding employment, to name just a few. At Pacific Medical Law, we are reminded of this every day as we work to help our clients with cerebral palsy or spinal cord injuries for example, people who, through no fault of their own, are unable to find employment in a traditional workplace.

September 1st marks the beginning of BC’s second annual Disability Employment Month. It’s a chance to recognize and celebrate the contribution people with disabilities bring to the workplace and recognize the many inclusive employers around the province.

Most progressive province for people with Disabilities

BC has set a goal to have the highest labour-market participation rates for people with disabilities of any province in Canada. This is one of the objectives of Accessibility 2024 – BC’s 10 year action plan to make BC the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities. The plan also includes strategies for improving the inclusiveness of government, and communities, as well as increasing accessible housing, transportation and employment, among other things.

A recent letter to the editor in the Vancouver Sun focused on inclusive hiring and highlights a number of reasons why inclusive hiring makes sense. For example:

  • A survey of supervisors with experience managing people with disabilities revealed employees with disabilities performed better than their co-workers in terms of punctuality, attendance, work quality, task consistency, and overall proficiency.
  • A Job Accommodation Network study found more than half of 1,100 employers of people with disabilities benefited from increased overall company morale and productivity. Employees with disabilities also bring a new perspective that can help make a business more welcoming to all.
  • Almost 90 per cent of consumers prefer companies that employ people with disabilities, according to a study cited in a Conference Board report.

Approximately 334,000 British Columbians aged 15 to 64 years self-identify as having a disability – that’s 15% of the population. According to the 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability, only 55% of persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 years participate in the labour market, compared to 78% of persons without disabilities. The cost of workplace accommodations for a person with disability is $500 or less on average. People with disabilities represent an important employee talent pool that can add value to a workplace. Hiring people with disabilities just makes sense for so many reasons. Here are additional stats on disabilities.

To see the full letter to the editor go to: (It’s just smart business – Vancouver Sun Sept 1, 2015)

More details on the business case for hiring people with disabilities can be found at: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2015SDSI0042-001401

For more information about Accessibility 2024, go to: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/about-the-bc-government/accessibility

Was your Child’s Cerebral Palsy Preventable? Unanswered Questions

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We are often asked by parents of children with cerebral palsy whether or not their child’s cerebral palsy may have been preventable with appropriate medical care. This is a question rarely addressed by the child’s treating physicians. Answering this question involves bringing together the medical opinions of a variety of carefully selected medical specialists who must each contribute their opinion on discrete areas of the medical care provided or the injury suffered by the child. Since this does not impact upon the medical treatment being provided to the child, this typically does not occur in the clinical setting. One exception is when the hospital performs a Quality Assurance Review in response to potential concerns about the quality of the medical care provided to a pregnant mother and/or her child; however, the results of these investigations are kept confidential and are not disclosed to the parents of the child with cerebral palsy.

This leaves many parents with unanswered questions. While they may receive fragments of information from various physicians, over the years an exhausted parent’s battle for answers quickly becomes displaced by the daily battle for resources such as therapy, support and equipment. The unanswered questions, however, continue to weigh on the parent’s mind, resurfacing from time to time, only to be buried again by weight of the day-to-day needs of their child.

We are frequently contacted by these parents – sometimes within weeks of their child’s birth, but often many years later. Parents always ask the same question: “Could my child’s injury have been prevented?”

It is understood that cerebral palsy can occur as a result of various medical conditions that are well-known and preventable with appropriate medical care. Some examples we are familiar with are as follows:

During Pregnancy :

  • Failure to diagnose and treat illness in the mother such as high blood pressure;
  • Failure to diagnose and treat symptoms such as maternal bleeding;
  • Failure to properly monitor the growth and development of the fetus; and
  • Failure to fully inform the mother of the risks associated with a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarian section) delivery.

During Labour and Delivery :

  • Failure to properly monitor the fetal heart rate, and respond appropriately to signs of potential fetal distress;
  • Failure to properly administer oxytocin;
  • Failure to intervene to expedite the delivery of the baby when progress has slowed or stopped;
  • Failure to anticipate and properly manage shoulder dystocia; and
  • Failure to perform a caesarian section in a timely manner to avoid brain injury to the baby.

After Birth :

  • Failure to diagnose and properly treat certain conditions in the baby including hypoglycemia, jaundice and infection; and
  • Failure to properly administer medication, nutrition and/or fluid.

In these circumstances, if we are able to prove that a child’s cerebral palsy was preventable with appropriate medical care, the child is entitled to receive a significant financial settlement to allow the parents to provide for their child’s care, support and therapy, to help their child reach their full potential in life.

It is also understood that cerebral palsy can occur for reasons that are not (yet) understood by modern medicine and in circumstances in which it was not preventable. In these cases, knowing the child’s injury was nobody’s fault, can help relieve any anger or guilt parents may be feeling, and help them to put the circumstances of their child’s birth behind them, and to focus on their child’s future.

Either way, parents often feel it is better to know, rather than to continue to wonder.

If you are a parent of a child with cerebral palsy and have unanswered questions, please feel free to contact us. We will carefully review your concerns with you, conduct a detailed review of the medical records and consult with our experts (depending on the circumstances of each individual case), in order to answer your questions and determine if your child may be entitled to financial compensation.

We will review your case and answer your questions without charging you any fees for our investigation.

You may contact us at 604-685-2361 or toll free at 604-685-2361, or you may visit our website at www.pacificmedicallaw.ca

Bursary for Children Living with Cerebral Palsy

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Pacific Medical Law has established a bursary fund in honor of Janna Epp, a beautiful, determined young girl with cerebral palsy, who faced challenges that few of us could imagine. Sadly, on October 11, 2012 Janna passed away.

In memory of Janna, Pacific Medical Law will donate $5,000 to a child living with cerebral palsy every year, to assist with that child’s care, therapy or recreation. The recipient of the bursary is selected by Janna’s mother.

Last year Pacific Medical Law provided the $5,000 bursary to a little girl named Leila. Leila is an extraordinary child with cerebral palsy who is amazingly strong and has a true zest for life. Leila works hard with her therapies and wanted the opportunity to try Feldenkrais therapy and therapeutic horseback riding to improve her muscle tone and decrease stiffness. She also wanted a Squiggles postural support system to keep her safe and comfortable when she is out exploring the world. Pacific Medical Law was pleased to support Leila and her mother, in this small way, to help Leila reach her full potential in life.

This year the bursary recipient will be selected on July 30, 2015. Applications are due July 15, 2015. For more information, please click; Janna Epp Bursary Application Form 2015, or go to https://www.pacificmedicallaw.ca/jannaeppbursary.shtml

CDC’s new study – Cerebral palsy remains the most common motor disability in childhood

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The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have recently released a report on the prevalence and characteristic of cerebral palsy in the United States. It has concluded that cerebral palsy remains the most common motor disability in childhood, and that children with cerebral palsy and their families continue to need support.

The key findings of the recent study can be summarized as follows:

  • About 1 in every 323 children in the United States has been identified with cerebral palsy.
  • Cerebral palsy was more common among boys than among girls.
  • Cerebral palsy was more common among Black children than White children. Hispanic and White children were about equally likely to have cerebral palsy.
  • The majority (77%) of the children identified with cerebral palsy had the spastic (or stiff muscles) type of cerebral palsy.
  • Over half (58%) of the children identified with cerebral palsy could walk independently.
  • Many of the children with cerebral palsy also had at least one co-occurring condition.
    • 41% had co-occurring epilepsy. Co-occurring epilepsy was more common among children with cerebral palsy who had limited or no walking ability.
    • Almost 7% had co-occurring autism spectrum disorder. Co-occurring autism spectrum disorder was more common among children with non-spastic cerebral palsy than spastic cerebral palsy.

The data is collected by the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which also collects information about children with cerebral palsy in four States. To read the full report, click here: Full Report

Similar research is being conducted in Canada. The Canadian Cerebral Palsy Registry, led by Dr. Michael Shevell, is the first national registry in North America to collect information about children born with cerebral palsy. The objectives of the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Registry are to gain further understanding of the risk factors and causes of cerebral palsy, to understand how often children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy and where they live, and to better understand parents’ perspectives on their child’s care and how services are provided to them. To learn more about the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Registry, including some of the findings from the data collected to date, click here: Canadian Cerebral Palsy Registry

To register your child in BC or to learn more about the registry in BC, click here: Cerebral Palsy Registry – BC Division

If you have questions about the cause of your child’s cerebral palsy, and wonder if it may have been related to the circumstances surrounding your child’s birth, then contact us for a free consultation to discuss your concerns. Pacific Medical Law – Home Page

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