Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect this can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and birth defect other expenses can add up quickly.

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

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. Doctors can be held accountable for any damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has expertise in lawsuits involving birth defects can determine the cause of your child's illness. caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may also be responsible for an injury to the fetus if they fail to diagnose or appropriately respond to distress in the fetus. This can cause a number of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery or labor. Injuries can be caused by Erb's palsy which occurs when the nerves that control the baby's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is called caput succedaneum. It's swelling of the scalp. Both of these can lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best course of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may be able to assist parents in determining the cause for a child's birth defect. Many birth defects are caused by genetics or factors during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. Certain common medications have a profound effect on fetuses, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea medications such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines, certain antibiotics, and more. These medications have been linked to an increase in risk of limb defects and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's duty is to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for not properly warning mothers about the risks associated with their products. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital fees physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

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

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are just a few of the chemicals that can cause birth defect law firms defects. These chemicals are called Teratogens as they interfere with the healthy development of the fetus through creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or cause malformed organs. These chemicals are present in many different settings, including the manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are hydrocarbons with aliphatic properties, like trichloroethylene perchloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals are known to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed suit against a number of companies involved in the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families whose children were born with severe birth defects due to the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by the combination of medical negligence and environmental factors or chemicals. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a baby could be the result of medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should consult a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the surrounding environment and then develop birth defects. These substances are known as teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are present in our food, air and water and a few could be harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic in drinking water, and cadmium from contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects and other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be linked to industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers also increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to manufacture semiconductors as well as silicon chip displays and video displays.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed many lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from many birth defects as a result of wrongful toxic or chemical exposure at work or at home. These lawsuits involve complicated scientific analyses and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.