Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects could assist you seek compensation to cover the costs of caring for your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defect law firms 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 standard of care when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held responsible for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defect lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child's illness could be due to a medical error birth defect attorneys during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor could be liable for a birth injury when they fail to diagnose or properly respond to distress of the fetus. This can lead to many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy as well as brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The distinction between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup and injuries are triggered by something occurring during labor, pregnancy or delivery. Injuries can 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 caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both can lead to a permanent disability, and continued treatment can cost a significant amount of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to examine your case and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents identify the root of a child's birth injury, or defect. Many birth defects result from the genetics of the baby or other factors during pregnancy. However, medications can also cause birth defects. A variety of commonly used medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is especially true in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most frequently used. These drugs have been linked with an increased risk of limb defects and heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.

It is the duty of a doctor to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medicines for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet this standard of care they could be liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for not adequately warning mothers of the dangers that come with their medications. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of major congenital defects in the first trimester of pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist family members receive compensation for future and current medical expenses related to the injury or disability, and also loss of income and quality of life. This can include hospital costs as well as doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses as well assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer could bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities because from the negligence of companies that expose pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that can cause birth defects. They are trained to identify the root of the birth defect so that they can bring a lawsuit against companies that expose mothers to teratogens during the time they are at work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as Teratogens since they interfere with the healthy growth of the fetus making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or cause organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals can be found in many different locations, such as the manufacturing of semiconductors and cleaning of metals.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies who were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have won substantial settlements for families who have children who were born with severe defects resulting from the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a baby could be the result of medical negligence, 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 environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens is the name given to these substances. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals are dangerous to pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium in coal that has been contaminated for instance, could cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Industrial solvents such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers also increase the likelihood of birth defects occurring in women. These chemicals are used in the production of semiconductors as well as silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a wide range of birth defects resulting from the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits typically require sophisticated scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, embryologists and occupational medicine experts.