Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth it could have a devastating effect on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other losses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could help you file an action to collect compensation for the costs of caring for your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their infants. If a doctor's actions are in violation of this standard and result in a birth defect or injury the doctor could be held responsible for damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who has expertise in lawsuits involving birth defects can help determine if your child's condition was caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail to identify fetal distress, or do not respond appropriately. This can cause a number of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The difference between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are caused due to something happening during pregnancy, labor, or during delivery. Injury can include Erb's Palsy where the nerves that control the infant's arms and legs are stretched or torn. Another injury is called caput succedaneum. It's an inflammation of the scalp. Both of these could lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC lawyer who is specialized in birth defects will offer a free consultation to look over your case and determine the best course of action for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

An attorney for birth defects may be able help parents determine the cause for the birth injury of a child. While many birth defects are due to genetics and other factors that occur during the mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused due to medications. A number of commonly used medications have a significant impact on fetuses, especially in the first trimester of a pregnancy. Anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most frequently used. These drugs have been linked with an increased risk of limb defects and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the duty of a doctor to be aware of these risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, then they may be held liable for negligence. Pharma companies can also be held responsible for not adequately informing mothers about the dangers associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects in the first trimester pregnancy.

A birth defect attorney can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of living. This could include hospital fees, vimeo doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, as well as assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring an action on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of companies that expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the cause of the birth defects so that they can bring a lawsuit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or at home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as Teratogens since they interfere with the healthy development of the fetus producing chemical changes that block normal cell function or cause organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals are found in many different settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been found to cause birth defects, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers exposed to them while in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to expose companies to liability for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have won substantial settlements on behalf of families whose children were born with severe birth defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by an unintended medical error and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects the birth defects of a child could be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemical and/or environmental factors, they should talk to a DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

If pregnant women inhale or absorb contaminants from the surrounding environment and then develop birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these substances. More than 4 million chemicals exist in our food, air and water and some can be harmful when they come into contact with pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking waters or cadmium found in coal that has been contaminated for instance, can cause birth defects as well as other health problems. Industrial solvents such as trichloroethylene, toluene, vimeo and benzene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers also increase the likelihood of birth defects occurring in women. These chemicals are used for the manufacture of semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and video displays.

The experienced birth defect attorneys at LK have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a wide range of birth defects as a result of unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at work or in their homes. These lawsuits usually involve a complicated scientific analysis and experts, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.