Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth, it can cause a huge impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other expenses can quickly accumulate.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing an action to collect compensation for the expenses of caring for your child with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects may be complex, so you should consult a lawyer immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. A doctor could be held liable for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defect lawsuits can determine whether your child's health issue was caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or the birth.

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

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by events during pregnancy, birth, or labor. Injury can include Erb's Palsy, where the nerves controlling the infant's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another injury is the caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of them can cause permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to examine your case and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able help parents determine the cause for a child's birth injury. While many birth defects are the result of genetics and birth defect attorneys factors during the mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused because of medications. Many common medications have a significant effect on fetuses, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most popular. These drugs have been linked with an increased risk of limb defects and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

The duty of a doctor is to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet this standard of care they may be liable for medical negligence. Pharma companies could also be held accountable for not properly informing mothers of the risks associated with their medications. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of major congenital defects in the first trimester of pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can help a family get compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of life. This can include hospital, doctor's prescription, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well assistive devices and therapies.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring an action on behalf of the families of children suffering from congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of businesses which expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defect law firm defects. They are trained to determine the reason for birth defects, so that they can bring a suit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at workplace or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects are herbicides, fungicides, metals and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as Teratogens since they interfere with the growth of the fetus creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals are used in a variety of settings, including semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause heart defects in babies born to mothers exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several firms that were responsible for exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families that had children born with severe defects due to the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a baby could be due to medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals and/or environmental factors, they should talk to a DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause serious birth defects when they are consumed by or taken in by pregnant women. Teratogens is the name given to these substances. Over 4 million chemicals are present in our air, food and water and a few are harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium from coal that is contaminated, for example, can cause birth defects and other health problems. Certain birth defects are related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers can increase the risk of birth defects among women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and birth defect Attorneys video displays.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects as a result of unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits usually involve a an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, including toxicologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.