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 costs and other losses can quickly increase.

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

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. If a doctor's actions are not in line with this standard and result in birth defects or injuries the doctor could be held accountable for harms suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced in lawsuits involving birth defects will help you determine if your child's health condition may be the result of an error in medical care during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail identify fetal distress, or don't respond appropriately. This could lead to a variety of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. These injuries can be caused by conditions like Erb's Palsy which develops when the nerves that energize and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or ruptured during birth, and caput succedaneum, a swelling of the scalp. Both of them can cause permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who is an expert in birth defects may provide a free consultation to analyze your case and determine the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to assist parents determine the cause of the child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and other factors that occur during a mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused as a result of medication. Many common medications have a significant impact on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medication, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of limb and brain defects, heart defects, and craniosynostois.

The duty of a doctor is to consider the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to meet this standard of care they could be liable for medical malpractice. Pharma companies could also be held accountable for not properly informing mothers about the dangers associated with their medication. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, has been found to increase the risk of major defects in the first trimester pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can help a family receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses associated with the disability or birth defect attorneys injury, and also loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital costs medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring an action on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of companies that expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to discover what caused the birth defect, so they can file a lawsuit against companies which expose mothers to teratogens when they are at work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides are just a few of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as Teratogens since they interfere with the development of the fetus making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or create organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals are present in a variety locations, such as metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have obtained significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe birth defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family believes that the birth defect of their child could be the result of medical negligence, Birth Defect Attorneys prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should speak with a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the environment, they can cause serious birth defects. These substances are known as teratogens. Over 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water, and some of them could be harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic in drinking water as well as cadmium derived from coal that is contaminated may cause 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 also increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to manufacture semiconductors, silicon chip displays and video displays.

The experienced birth defect attorneys at LK have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects due to wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at work or in their homes. These lawsuits often involve an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, including toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.