Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth deformity it could cause a lot of grief for the entire family. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other losses can quickly add up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing claim for birth defect lawsuit compensation for the costs of caring for your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a set of standards when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held accountable for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine whether your child's illness could be due to an error in medical care during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could also be the cause of birth injuries if they fail in diagnosing or appropriately respond to fetal distress. This can result in a variety of serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery or labor. A possible injury is Erb's spalsy which occurs when the nerves that control the infant's arms and legs are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is the caput succedaneum, a swelling on the scalp. Both of them can cause permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to review your case and determine the best method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to assist parents identify the cause of a child's birth Defect lawsuit injury, or defect. Many birth defects result from genes or other factors that occur during pregnancy. However, medications can also cause birth defects. Certain common medications have a profound effect on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of a pregnancy. These include anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs, certain antibiotics, and more. These medications have been proven to increase the risk of developing limb and brain deformities, heart defects, and craniosynostosis.

It is a doctor's professional duty to consider the potential risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet the requirements of this standard of care, they could be held liable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for failing to adequately warn mothers of the dangers associated with their medicines. Zofran is a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects in the first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families in getting compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and the quality of life. This can include hospital costs physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses in addition to assistive devices, and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities because of the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to discover the reason for the birth defect, so they can sue companies which expose mothers to teratogens while they are at work or in their homes.

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are among the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens because they affect the development of the fetus making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or create organs to be malformed. These chemicals can be found in a variety of environments, including metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects include the aliphatic hydrocarbons like dichloroethane and trichloroethylene perchloroethylene. These chemicals have been known to cause birth problems, including cardiac disorders, in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families who had their children born with severe defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family suspects the birth defects of a child may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemicals such as benzene, they should seek out an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other pollutants in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature if they are ingested or taken in by pregnant women. These chemicals are called teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our air, food and water. Certain of these chemicals could be dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic found in drinking water, and cadmium from contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects and health problems. Certain birth defects are also associated with industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers, which are employed in the manufacturing of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays, are known to increase the chances of having birth defects as well.

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a variety of birth defects caused by wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits usually involve a complicated scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts and embryologists.