Angela Norman’s daughter Makayla died on March 1, 2011. She was 14 years old and weighed 28 pounds. She exhibited many signs of neglect, including numerous bedsores. The coroner’s office said that she died from nutritional and medical neglect complicated by a chronic condition – she had cerebral palsy. Ken Betz, director of the coroner’s office, said Makayla was the “worst malnourished child this office has ever seen.” Norman pleaded guilty to a felony count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and to misdemeanor and felony counts of endangering children. She was sentenced to nine years in prison. The maximum sentence she could have received was ten years. Three nurses – Mollie E. Parsons, Kathryn Williams and Mary K. Kilby – are also facing charges for failing to report the situation at the Norman household. Parsons’ job was to visit the home six days a week and administer care. Williams was Parsons’…
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Birth Injury and Cerebral Palsy Attorneys Home
Mother Sentenced for Starving Her Disabled Daughter
June 1, 2012About Baclofen Pumps
May 28, 2012Baclofen pumps, also known as Intrathecal Baclofen Therapy (IBT), help thousands of people with muscle spasms, including people with cerebral palsy. The baclofen pump itself is a small circular disc roughly the size and shape of a tuna can. Surgeons implant the pump into the patient’s abdomen. The pump releases controlled doses of baclofen into the patient’s spinal cord, which helps keep muscle spasms under control. One benefit of using a baclofen pump is that doctors can easily accommodate the device for each patient. For example, if the patient’s spasms are bad at night and mild during the day, the baclofen pump can be calibrated to deliver stronger doses when they are needed most. Different patients require different amounts of medication, and the pump allows doctors to make these modifications as needed. IBT is a fairly safe form of therapy. The Food and Drug Administration approved the device in 1996,…
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Returning Marine Sees Cerebral Palsy Son Walk for First Time; Video Goes Viral
May 23, 2012A video posted on WelcomeHomeBlog.com generated hundreds of comments, thousands of Facebook “likes” and some mentions on major news outlets. In the video, a returning marine sees his son walk for the first time. “When my husband left on his deployment, our 6-year-old son could not walk on his own,” writes Melissa Cooney on the website where she submitted the video. “He has cerebral palsy. Doctors originally said that he would never walk or do much of anything. While daddy was away, he learned to walk. For his homecoming, we set it up for Michael to walk to his daddy for the first time ever! We kept the fact the he could walk a secret the whole time his dad was gone!” The video is one of the most popular posts on the site, which features emotional reunions of returning soldiers and their loved ones. A few days after the…
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