Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth deformity it could have a devastating effect on your family as well as you. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly add up.

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects may be able to help you claim reimbursement for the expenses of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects may be complicated, and you should consult with a legal professional whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. A doctor can be held liable for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who is experienced in birth defect lawsuits will help you determine if your child's illness could be due to an error made by the medical professional during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor could also be accountable for birth injuries if they fail in diagnosing or properly respond to fetal distress. This can result in many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. These injuries can be caused by ailments like Erb's palsy which is caused when the nerves which energize and control the infant's arms are stretched or damaged during birth and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both of these could cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC lawyer who is skilled in birth defects can offer a free consultation in order to examine your case and determine the best course of action for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to assist parents identify the cause of the child's birth injury or defect. Many birth defects are caused by genes or other factors that occur during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. A number of commonly used medications can have a negative impact on foetuses. This is particularly applicable in the early months of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines including certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostosis.

A doctor's responsibility is to consider these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care they could be held liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for not adequately warning mothers about the risks associated with their drugs. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during the first trimester of pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist a family receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses related to the injury or disability, and also loss of earnings and the quality of life. This can include doctor's, hospital, pharmaceutical, and other costs, as well as aidive devices and therapies.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of companies which expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to find out the reason for the birth defect so that they can sue companies which expose mothers to teratogens when they work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called Teratogens since they affect the healthy development a the fetus via chemical changes that can cause abnormal organs or block normal cell function. These chemicals are present in diverse settings like the manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects include the aliphatic hydrocarbons like dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, or perchloroethylene. These chemicals are known 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 that were involved in exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have won substantial settlements for families who have children who were born with serious defects as a result of the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by an unintended medical error and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects that their child's birth defect lawyers defect may result from medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should consult an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

If pregnant women inhale or absorb contaminants from their environment and then develop birth defects. Teratogens are the term used to describe these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals may be harmful to pregnant women.

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

The experienced birth defect attorneys at LK have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a range of birth defects due to the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits often involve complicated scientific analysis and experts, such as toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.