Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can cause a huge impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly become a burden.

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects could assist you seek compensation for the cost of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects may be complicated, so you should consult a lawyer as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. If a doctor's actions are in violation of this standard and result in an injury or birth defect or injury, they could be held accountable for the damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine if your child's condition may be the result of a medical error during pregnancy or the lexington birth defect lawsuit.

A doctor could be liable for birth injuries if they fail to recognize or adequately respond to distress in the fetus. This can lead to a number serious problems including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and hypoxic encephalopathy such as cerebral palsy.

The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are caused due to something happening during pregnancy, labor, or during delivery. 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 - a swelling on the scalp. Both can result in a lifelong disability, and ongoing treatment will cost a great deal of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who is an expert in birth defects may offer a free consultation in order to examine your case and determine the most appropriate course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able to help parents determine the cause of a child's birth injury, or defect. Many birth defects result from the genetics of the baby or other factors during pregnancy. However, medications can also cause birth defects. Certain common medications have a significant effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most popular. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's duty is to consider these risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers of the dangers associated with their products. Zofran is a drug used to treat nausea among cancer patients, has been shown to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancies.

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

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit for families of children with congenital disabilities because due to the negligence of corporations exposing pregnant women to chemicals and medications that cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to determine the root of the birth defect, so they can file a lawsuit against companies which expose mothers to teratogens when they work or at their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that can lead to birth defects are herbicides, fungicides, metals and other pesticides. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens due to the fact that they affect the healthy development a embryo through chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs or hinder normal cell function. These chemicals can be found in a variety of settings, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and Vimeo 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 against a variety of companies involved in the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have won substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects resulting from the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family believes the napa birth defect lawyer defect of their child may be due to medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should speak with a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.

Chemicals and other pollutants in the environment can cause serious birth defects if they are ingested or taken in by pregnant women. Teratogens are the name for these substances. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our air, food and water. Certain of these chemicals could be harmful to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic found in drinking water and cadmium from contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects and health problems. Industrial solvents such as benzene, toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol ethers, employed in the manufacturing of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays are known to increase the risk of birth defects too.

The experienced birth defect attorneys at LK have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a wide range of birth defects as a result of the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits involve complicated scientific analyses and expert witnesses such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.