Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth it could cause a huge impact on you and your family. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other losses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing claim for compensation for the cost of taking care of your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. If the actions of a doctor fall below this standard and result in birth defect or injury or injury, they could be held liable for the injuries suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defects lawsuits can determine whether your child's condition was caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail diagnose fetal distress or fail to respond appropriately. This can result in a variety of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The distinction between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are caused by something that happens during labor, pregnancy or the birth. Injuries can be caused by Erb's palsy, where the nerves controlling the infant's arms and legs are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is called caput succedaneum. It's swelling of the scalp. Both of these conditions can lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in significant medical bills. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes in birth defects can offer a free consultation in order to review your case, and determine the best course of action for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able to assist parents in determining the root of a child's birth defect. Many birth defects are caused by genetics or factors during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. Certain commonly used medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is especially evident in the initial three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines including certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been linked to an increase in chance of limb deformities, brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's responsibility is to consider the risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers of the dangers associated with their products. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to significantly increase the risk of major congenital defects in the first trimester of pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist a family receive reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses resulting from the disability or injury, and also loss of earnings and quality of life. This can include hospital, doctor's or pharmaceutical expenses, as well as aidive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the reason for the birth defect in order to sue companies which expose mothers to teratogens when they are working or in their homes.

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause birth defects. They are referred to as teratogens because they affect the growth of the fetus producing chemical changes that block normal cell function or create organs that are malformed. These chemicals are present in a variety situations, such as metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defect lawsuit defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several firms that were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have won significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by the combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects that the birth defect of their child may be due to medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should talk to an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb contaminants from the environment they could develop serious birth defects. Teratogens are the term used to describe these substances. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals can be harmful to pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium from coal that is contaminated for instance, may cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Industrial solvents like trichloroethylene, toluene, birth defect and benzene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defects. Glycol ethers, which are utilized in the production of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays, are well-known to increase the chance of having birth defects as well.

LK's skilled birth defect attorneys have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a variety of birth defects caused by the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits typically involve sophisticated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, birth defect geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.