Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth this can cause a huge impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly add up.

A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects can help you claim reimbursement for the expenses of caring for your children with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are complex and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a set of guidelines when treating pregnant women and their infants. A doctor can be held liable for damages if their actions result in birth defect law firm defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defects lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child's health issue was caused by a medical error during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be responsible for an injury that occurs during birth if they fail to recognize or respond adequately to distress in the fetus. This can result in a variety of serious problems, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The difference between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up however, injuries are caused by something occurring during labor, pregnancy, or birth. Injuries can include issues like Erb's syndrome, which occurs when the nerves which energize and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or damaged during birth and the caput succedaneum is an increase in the size of the scalp. Both can result in a lifelong disability, and ongoing treatment will cost a great deal of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who is specialized in birth defects will provide a no-cost consultation to look over your case and temecula birth defect lawsuit determine the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to help parents identify the cause of a child's birth injury, or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and factors during the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur as a result of medication. Certain common medications can have negative effects on fetuses. This is especially applicable in the early months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most frequently used. These medications have been linked with an increased risk of deformities in the limbs and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's duty is to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for not adequately informing mothers of the dangers associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancy.

A birth defect attorney can assist a family in obtaining compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of living. This could include hospital costs physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses as well assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file an action on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to discover the reason for the birth defect, so they can sue companies who expose mothers to teratogens as they are at work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are among the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens because they affect the development of the fetus by making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function, or can cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in various settings, including semiconductor manufacturing, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other dangerous chemicals that may 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 exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to make companies accountable for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have gotten substantial settlements on behalf families whose children were born with serious defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family is concerned that their child's birth defect may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should consult a DC temecula birth Defect lawsuit injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

Chemicals and other contaminants in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are inhaled or taken in by pregnant women. Teratogens are the term used to describe these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals can be harmful to pregnant women.

Arsenic from drinking water or cadmium found in coal that has been contaminated for instance, can cause birth defects and other health problems. Industrial solvents such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and toluene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol ethers, used in the manufacture of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays are recognized to increase a woman's risk of birth defects.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed many lawsuits on the name of children who suffered from many birth defects as a result of the wrongful exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits often involve an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, embryologists and occupational medicine experts.