Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville lawyer who specializes in birth defects may be able to help you file for compensation for the costs of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, and you should seek legal advice immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a set of standards when treating pregnant women or their infants. If the actions of a doctor do not meet the standards and result in birth defects or injuries or injury, they could be held accountable for the damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced in lawsuits involving birth defects can help you determine whether your child's health condition may be due to an error in medical care during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor could also be held responsible for birth injuries if they fail to recognize fetal distress and fail to respond appropriately. This can result in numerous serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and birth defects brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are caused by something occurring during pregnancy, labor, or birth. These injuries can be caused by issues like Erb's syndrome, which occurs when the nerves that energize and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or torn during birth, and caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both can result in permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes in birth defects can offer a free consultation to analyze your case and determine the most appropriate course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

An attorney for birth defects may be able to help parents determine the reason behind a child's birth injury. While many birth defects are due to the genetics of the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur because of medications. A number of commonly used medications have a profound effect on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects, and craniosynostosis.

A doctor's duty is to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet the standards of care required, they could be held accountable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for failing to adequately warn mothers about the risks associated with their products. 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 a pregnancy.

An attorney for birth defects can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of living. This could include hospital fees medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs and other costs, in addition to assistive devices, and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf of the families of children suffering from congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the root of the birth defects so that they can bring a suit against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that can lead to birth defects are the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as teratogens due to their impact on the healthy development of the fetus through causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function, or can cause malformed organs. These chemicals are found in a variety of locations, such as processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals are known to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed during their time in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have won substantial settlements on behalf of families who had their children 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 that a child's birth defects may be the result of medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals and/or environmental factors, they should talk to a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other contaminants in the environment can cause serious birth defects when they are consumed or absorbed by pregnant women. These chemicals are called Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Certain of these chemicals are harmful to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water and cadmium in coal that is contaminated may cause a variety of birth defects as well as other health issues. Industrial solvents such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and toluene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers can increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used for the manufacture of semiconductors display panels, silicon chip displays, and video displays.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a variety of birth defects due to unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits typically involve sophisticated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, including toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.