Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth defect, it can have a devastating effect on your family as well as you. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other losses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing a claim to recover compensation for the expenses of caring for your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are a bit nebulous and it is essential to seek legal advice as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a certain standard when treating pregnant women or their babies. A doctor can be held responsible for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in lawsuits involving birth defects can assist you in determining whether your child's condition could have been caused by a medical error during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor could be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail to diagnose fetal distress or don't respond appropriately. This can lead to a number serious problems including hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by events during pregnancy, birth, or labor. Injury can include Erb's Palsy which is a condition where the nerves that control the infant's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is the caput succedaneum, an inflammation of the scalp. Both of these conditions can cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical bills. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to examine your case and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to assist parents identify the root of a child's birth injury, or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and factors during the mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused due to medications. A variety of commonly used medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is particularly applicable in the early months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most popular. 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. If doctors do not meet this standard of care, they could be held accountable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for failing to adequately warn mothers of the dangers associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, has been shown to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist a family receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses related to the injury or disability, and also loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital expenses, doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, 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 resulting from the negligence of businesses which expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to discover what caused the birth defect in order to bring a lawsuit against the companies which expose mothers to teratogens while they work or in their homes.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects are the use of fungicides and metals as well as herbicides and other pesticides. They are referred to as Teratogens since they interfere with the growth of the fetus causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function, or can cause malformed organs. These chemicals are found in many different settings, including metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.

Other chemicals that may cause birth defects include hydrocarbons that are aliphatic, such as trichloroethylene perchloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been shown to cause birth problems, including cardiac defects, in babies born to mothers exposed to them in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to ensure that companies are held accountable for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

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

If pregnant women inhale or absorb contaminants from the surrounding environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water Some of them are harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

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

LK's experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed numerous lawsuits in the name of children who suffered from various birth defects as a result of an unintentional exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at their workplace or home. These lawsuits typically require complicated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists, birth defect epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.