Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth this can have a devastating effect on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other expenses can quickly accumulate.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could help you file claim for compensation for the costs of taking care of your disabled child. A legal claim for birth defects can be complicated, and you should 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 babies. A doctor could be held accountable for any damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can determine the cause of your child's illness. caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may also be the cause of a birth injury when they fail in diagnosing or appropriately respond to fetal distress. This can cause many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and 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 caused by something occurring during labor, pregnancy, or birth. The causes of injuries include issues like Erb's syndrome which develops when the nerves that stimulate and control the arms of an infant are stretched or torn during birth, and caput succedaneum, a swelling of the scalp. Both can lead to a lifelong disability, and ongoing treatment can cost a significant amount of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to look over your case and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to help parents determine the root of a child's birth defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and the factors that influence a mother's pregnancy but they can also happen because of medications. A variety of commonly used medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is particularly true in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most common. These drugs have been linked with an increased chance of limb deformities, heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostosis.

It is the responsibility of a doctor to consider the risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for failing to adequately warn mothers of the risks associated with their products. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of pregnancy.

An attorney for birth defects can help a family get compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This could include doctor's, hospital or pharmaceutical costs, in addition to aidive devices and therapies.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities as a result from the negligence of companies who expose pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the root of the birth defect, so they can bring a lawsuit against companies which expose mothers to teratogens when they work or at their homes.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides are just a few of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens because they affect the development of the fetus through creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in a variety of settings including manufacturing of semiconductors, cleaning of metals and paint production.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene (trichloroethylene), birth defect lawsuits trichloroethylene ( dichloroethane. These chemicals have been shown to cause birth problems, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them during the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies involved in exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have gotten substantial settlements on behalf families who had their children born with severe defects as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects may be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family believes that the birth defect of their child could result from medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should contact an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the surrounding environment and then develop birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals could be dangerous to pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking waters or cadmium in contaminated coal, for example, can cause birth defects and other health problems. Industrial solvents such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used in the production of semiconductors, silicon chip displays and video displays.

The experienced birth defect attorneys at LK have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a variety of birth defects as a result of improper exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits often involve complicated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, including toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.