Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can help you file an appeal to receive compensation for the costs of taking care of your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are complicated, so it is important to seek legal advice as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a certain standard when treating pregnant women or their babies. When a doctor's actions are in violation of this standard and cause birth defect or injury and/or death, they may be held responsible for damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced in birth defect lawsuits will help you determine if your child's condition may have been caused by a medical error during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail identify fetal distress, or do not respond appropriately. This could lead to a variety of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) 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, while injuries are caused by something that happens during labor, pregnancy or delivery. Injuries can result from conditions like Erb's Palsy that occurs when the nerves that energize and control an infant's arms are stretched or torn during birth, and caput succedaneum, a swelling of the scalp. Both of these can result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. 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 attorney may help parents determine the reason behind an infant's birth injury. While many birth defects are due to genetics and factors during a mother's pregnancy but they can also happen as a result of medications. A variety of common medications can have a profound effect on fetuses, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea medications and NSAIDs as well as chemotherapy medications including certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is a doctor's professional duty to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, then they may be held liable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for not adequately warning mothers of the risks associated with their medications. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during the first trimester of pregnancy.

An attorney for birth defect lawsuit defects can assist families in getting compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital expenses medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs and other costs, along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A brockton birth defect lawyer defect lawyer can sue families of children with congenital disabilities because due to the negligence of corporations that expose pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that can cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially-trained to determine the root of birth defects so that they can bring a case against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects include the use of fungicides and metals as well as herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are called Teratogens since they affect the healthy development a the fetus via chemical changes that cause abnormal organs, or disrupt normal cell function. These chemicals can be found in various settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, Vimeo cleaning of metals and paint production.

Other hazardous chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause heart defects in babies born to mothers exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to ensure that companies are held accountable for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have won substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects due to the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

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

If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the surrounding environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the name for these substances. More than 4 million chemicals exist in our air, food and Vimeo water, and some of them can be harmful when they come into contact with pregnant women.

For example, arsenic in drinking water, and cadmium from coal that has been contaminated can trigger various birth defects and health issues. Certain birth defects are also linked to industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to manufacture semiconductors display panels, silicon chip displays, and video displays.

The experienced lawyers at LK for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits in the name of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects due to an unintentional exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at their workplace or home. These lawsuits often involve an extensive scientific analysis as well as experts, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.