Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth, it can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly increase.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could help you file a claim to recover compensation for the expenses of caring for your child with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, so you should consult with a legal professional as soon as possible.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. If the actions of a doctor are not in line with this standard and result in an injury or birth defect the doctor could be held responsible for damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who has experience in lawsuits involving birth defects can help you determine whether your child's condition could be due to an error made by a doctor during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail to detect fetal distress or don't respond appropriately. This can cause a number of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic disorder (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by events during pregnancy, birth, or labor. The causes of injuries include ailments like Erb's palsy, which occurs when the nerves that stimulate and control the infant's arms are stretched or ruptured during birth and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both can result in permanent disability, and ongoing treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to review your situation and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to help parents determine the cause of a child's birth injury, birth defect law firms or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and other factors that occur during the mother's pregnancy however, they may also occur because of medications. A number of commonly used medications can have negative effects on the fetuses. This is especially applicable in the early months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications such as certain antibiotics and more. These medications have been proven to increase the risk of developing limb and brain defects, heart defects, and craniosynostois.

It is a doctor's professional duty to consider the potential risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, then they may be held liable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for not adequately warning mothers about the risks associated with their medicines. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can help families get compensation for the future and present medical expenses associated with the injury or disability, as well as loss of earnings and the quality of life. This can include hospital, doctor's, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well assistive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer could sue families of children with congenital disabilities as a result from the negligence of companies who expose pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that cause birth deformities. They are trained to determine the reason for birth defects so they can bring a case against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at work or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects include the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are called Teratogens since they interfere with the development of the fetus creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function, or can cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in a variety of locations, such as semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethylene perchloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth problems, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them while in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to make companies accountable for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have won substantial settlements for families who have children who were born with serious defects as a result of the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family suspects that the birth defect in their child could be due to medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should talk to a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

Chemicals and other contaminants in the environment can cause serious birth defect law firms defects if they are ingested or absorbed by pregnant women. Teratogens are the term used to describe these substances. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals may be harmful to pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal, for example, can cause birth defects as well as other health problems. Industrial solvents like trichloroethylene, toluene, and benzene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defect law firm defects. Glycol-ethers can increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used for the manufacture of semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and video displays.

The experienced lawyers at LK for birth defects have filed many lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from many birth defects due to wrongful toxic or chemical exposure at their workplace or home. These lawsuits typically involve an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, such as toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.