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 costs and other losses can quickly become a burden.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can help you file claim for compensation for the cost of taking care of your disabled child. A legal claim for birth defects may be complicated, which is why you should seek legal counsel as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. If the actions of a doctor are in violation of this standard and cause birth defect or injury and/or death, they may be held accountable for injuries suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced 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 delivery.

A doctor may also be accountable for birth injuries if they fail to identify or respond adequately to fetal distress. This can result in various serious problems, including hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup and injuries are triggered by something that happens during pregnancy, labor, or the birth. Injuries can include issues like Erb's syndrome which develops when the nerves which energize and control an infant's arms are stretched or torn during the birth process and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both of these can result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in significant medical bills. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost 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 may be able to assist parents determine the reason for a child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and other factors that occur during the mother's pregnancy but they can also happen as a result of medications. Many common medications can have a negative impact on fetuses. This is particularly relevant in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, and chemotherapy drugs are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.

The duty of a doctor is to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, they could be held accountable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers about the risks associated with their drugs. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of major congenital problems in the first trimester of pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can help families receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses that result from the disability or injury as well as loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include doctor's, hospital prescription, pharmaceutical, and other costs, in addition to assistive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer could file a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities as a result from the negligence of companies which expose pregnant women and medications that cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to identify the cause of the birth defect so that they can bring a lawsuit against the companies who expose mothers to teratogens while they work or in their homes.

Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects include the use of fungicides and metals as well as herbicides and other pesticides. They are referred to as teratogens because they affect the healthy development of the fetus by causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function, or can cause organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals can be used in a variety of locations, such as processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other hazardous 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 in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers who live at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have secured significant settlements for families who have children who were born with serious defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by the combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family suspects that the birth defect of their child could be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should talk to a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

If pregnant women consume or absorb pollutants from the environment they could develop serious birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals are harmful to pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking waters or cadmium in coal that has been contaminated for instance, could cause yeadon birth defect Lawsuit defects as well as other health problems. Industrial solvents like benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers also increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used for the manufacture of semiconductors display panels, silicon chip displays, and video displays.

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