Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth defect it can have a devastating effect on you and your entire family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly become a burden.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing claim for compensation for the costs of taking care of your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are a bit nebulous and birth defect lawyers therefore it is crucial to seek legal advice as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a set of guidelines when treating pregnant women and their babies. Doctors can be held liable for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in lawsuits involving birth defects will help you determine if your child's condition may be the result of an error in medical care during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may be liable for a birth injury when they fail in diagnosing or respond adequately to distress of the fetus. This can cause various serious problems, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by events during pregnancy, birth, or labor. Injuries can include issues like Erb's syndrome which is caused when the nerves which energize and control the arms of an infant are stretched or damaged during birth as well as caput succedaneum which is an increase in the size 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 can provide a free initial consultation to look over your case and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able help parents determine the cause for a child's birth defect. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and the factors that influence the mother's pregnancy however, they may also occur as a result of medication. Certain common medications have a profound effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of a pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications as well as certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of developing limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the responsibility of a doctor to consider these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharma companies may also be held responsible for not adequately informing mothers about the dangers associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects in first-trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can help families get reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses resulting from the injury or disability, and also loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital fees as well as doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer could bring a lawsuit on behalf of parents of children with congenital disabilities because of the negligence of companies exposing pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the root of the birth defect in order to bring a lawsuit against companies which expose mothers to teratogens while they are working 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 known as Teratogens since they interfere with the growth of the fetus creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in many different situations, such as processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals are known to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against a variety of companies involved in the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have secured 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

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

Chemicals and other pollutants in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are inhaled or absorbed by pregnant women. Teratogens are the term used to describe these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals can be dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic found in drinking water, and cadmium from contaminated coal can cause various birth defects and health problems. Certain birth defects can also be related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the chance of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used in the production of semiconductors, silicon chip displays and video displays.

The experienced lawyers at LK for birth defects have filed numerous lawsuits on the name of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects due to accidental exposure to toxic chemicals or chemicals at their workplace or home. These lawsuits typically involve complicated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.