Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville lawyer that specializes in birth defects could assist to file a claim for compensation for the cost of caring for your disabled children. A legal claim for birth defects can be complicated, which is why you should seek legal counsel as soon as possible.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow an appropriate standard of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. When a doctor's actions fall below this standard and result in birth defect or injury the doctor could be held responsible for damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine if your child's illness could be due to a medical error during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor may be liable for birth injuries if they fail to identify or appropriately respond to fetal distress. This can cause a number of serious complications, including hypoxic ischemic disorder (HIE) and brain injuries, such as cerebral palsy.

The difference between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup and injuries are triggered due to something happening during labor, pregnancy, or the birth. Injuries can include issues like Erb's syndrome which is caused when the nerves which energize and birth defect lawsuit control the infant's arms are stretched or torn during birth as well as caput succedaneum which is an increase in the size of the scalp. Both can result in a permanent disability, and ongoing treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who is skilled in birth defects can provide a free consultation to examine your case and decide on the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might help parents determine the cause for the birth injury of a child. While many birth defects are the result of the genetics of the mother's pregnancy, they can also occur as a result of medications. Many common medications can have a negative impact on fetuses. This is particularly true in the first three months of pregnancy. They include anti-nausea medicines such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines including certain antibiotics, and more. These medications have been linked to an increase in risk of limb deformities and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the professional responsibility of doctors to be aware of these risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet this standard of care they could be held liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for failing to adequately warn mothers of the risks associated with their drugs. 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 pregnancy.

An attorney who specializes in birth defects can assist a family in obtaining compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital costs medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, as well assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf of parents of children with congenital disabilities because of the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that can cause birth defect law firm deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to discover the reason for the birth defect, so they can sue companies which expose mothers to teratogens when they work or in their homes.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause Birth Defect Lawsuit defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens because they affect the healthy development of the fetus causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function or lead to organs to be malformed. These chemicals can be found in a variety of settings including semiconductor manufacturing, metal cleaning and paint production.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies involved in exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have obtained significant settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by the combination of medical negligence as well as environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family suspects a child's birth defects may be due to medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should consult an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause serious birth defects when they are inhaled or absorbed by pregnant women. Teratogens are the names given to these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals can be dangerous to pregnant women.

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

The experienced lawyers at LK for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a variety of birth defects as a result of accidental exposure to toxic chemicals or chemicals at their workplace or home. These lawsuits typically involve an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, such as toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.