Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect this can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other losses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville lawyer that specializes in birth defects could help you claim compensation for the cost of caring for your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are complicated and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a set of standards when treating pregnant women or their babies. If the actions of a doctor are in violation of this standard and cause birth defects or injuries and/or death, they may be held accountable for damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits will help you determine if your child's condition may have been caused by an error in medical care during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail to detect fetal distress or do not respond appropriately. This can cause a number of serious problems, including hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery or labor. Injuries can result from issues like Erb's syndrome which develops when the nerves which energize and control an infant's arms are stretched or damaged during birth and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both can result in a permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to look over your case and determine the best method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents identify the cause of a child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and other factors that occur during a mother's pregnancy but they can also happen because of medications. A variety of common medications can have a significant impact on fetuses and babies, particularly during the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, and chemotherapy drugs are among the most popular. These drugs have been linked to an increased risk of limb defects and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostosis.

A doctor's responsibility is to take into account the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care, then they may be held liable for negligence. Pharma companies could also be held responsible for not properly informing mothers of the risks associated with their medication. For example, 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 pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families receive compensation for current and future medical expenses resulting from the disability or injury and also loss of income and quality of life. This can include doctor's, hospital or pharmaceutical costs, as well as assistive devices and therapies.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of companies who expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to identify what caused the birth defect so that they can file a lawsuit against companies who expose mothers to teratogens as they work or at their homes.

Some of the exposures to chemicals that lead to birth defects include metals, fungicides, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are called Teratogens since they interfere with the development of the fetus through making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function, or can cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals are found in many different locations, such as metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene (trichloroethylene), trichloroethylene ( dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers who were exposed during their time in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers who live at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed 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 exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence as well as environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a child may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemical or chemical substances, they should speak with a DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

If pregnant women consume or absorb pollutants from the environment, they can cause serious birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are present in our air, food and water and a few can be harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

For instance, arsenic found in drinking water and cadmium from contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects, as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects can also be caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers that are employed in the manufacturing of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays are known to increase a woman's chances of having birth defects too.

The experienced attorneys at LK's firm for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits in the name of children who suffered from various birth defects as a result of an unintentional exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.