Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth, it can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Therapy costs, medical bills and other losses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can help you file an appeal to receive compensation for the expenses of taking care of your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are complicated, so it is important to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their babies. When a doctor's actions are not in line with this standard and result in birth defect or injury and/or death, they may be held accountable for damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits for birth defects can help you determine whether your child's health condition may have been caused by a medical error birth defect lawyer during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could be liable for a birth defect law firm injury when they fail to diagnose or properly respond to distress in the fetus. This can lead to a number serious problems including hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. Injuries can include conditions like Erb's Palsy which is caused when the nerves that power and control an infant's arms are stretched or damaged during birth, and caput succedaneum, a swelling of the scalp. Both of these conditions can cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in hefty medical costs. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to examine your case and determine the best course of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents determine the reason for a child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and factors during the pregnancy of a mother but they can also happen due to medications. A number of commonly used medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is especially true in the first three months of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications including certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been linked to an increase in risk of deformities in the limbs and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the duty of a doctor to be aware of these risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to meet this standard of care, they could be liable for medical negligence. Pharma companies may also be held responsible for not adequately informing mothers about the risks associated with their medications. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist a family receive reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses that result from the disability or injury in addition to loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital fees medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs and other expenses along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring an action on behalf of the families of children suffering from congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to determine the reason for birth defects, so that they can bring a lawsuit against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects are the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as teratogens due to their impact on the healthy development of the fetus through creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or create organs to be malformed. These chemicals can be present in a variety locations, such as metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.

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 proven to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed suit against a number of companies who were responsible for exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have won substantial settlements on behalf of families whose children were born with severe birth defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family is concerned that the birth defect of their child may result from medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should contact an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

If pregnant women consume or absorb pollutants from the environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens is the name given to these substances. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water Some of them can be harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

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

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a variety of birth defects resulting from improper exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at work or in their homes. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.