Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect it can be devastating for you and your entire family. Therapy costs, medical bills and other expenses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could help you file a claim to recover compensation for the expenses of taking care of your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are complex and therefore it is crucial to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. Doctors can be held accountable for any damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits involving birth defects can assist you in determining whether your child's condition may be the result of an error made by a doctor during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor may also be held responsible for birth defect lawsuit injuries if they fail to identify fetal distress, or are unable to respond in a timely manner. This can cause numerous serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The distinction between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic makeup, while injuries are caused by an event that occurs during labor, pregnancy or birth. Injury can include Erb's Palsy where the nerves that control the infant's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is caput succedaneum - swelling of the scalp. Both can result in a permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost lots of money. 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 might be able help parents determine the root of an infant's birth injury. While many birth defects are caused by the genetics of a mother's pregnancy however, they may also occur as a result of medication. A variety of common medications can have negative effects on fetuses. This is especially true in the first three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines such as certain antibiotics and many more. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of limb and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is a doctor's professional duty to consider these risks when prescribing medications for birth Defect Attorneys women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to follow this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for negligence. Pharma companies could also be held responsible for not adequately inform mothers of the risks of their medication. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during the first trimester of a pregnancy.

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

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities as a result due to the negligence of corporations which expose pregnant women and drugs that can cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially-trained to identify the cause of birth defects so they can bring a case against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at workplace or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects are metals, fungicides, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as teratogens because they affect the healthy development of the fetus by creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals are present in various settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, cleaning of metals and paint production.

Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed during their time in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers who live 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 defects as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by an unintended medical error and environmental factors or chemicals. If a family believes that their child's birth defect may be due to medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should contact an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

Chemicals and other contaminants in the environment can cause serious birth defects when they are inhaled or absorbed by pregnant women. These chemicals are called Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals exist in our air, food and water and some 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 numerous birth defects, as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects are caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, which are utilized in the production of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays, are known to increase a woman's chance of having birth defects as well.

The experienced birth defect attorney defect attorneys (discover this info here) at LK have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a wide range of birth defects resulting from unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits usually involve a complicated scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine specialists and embryologists.