Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect it could cause a lot of grief for the entire family. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other expenses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing an appeal to receive reimbursement for the costs of taking care of your disabled child. A legal claim for birth defects can be complex, so you should seek legal counsel as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held accountable for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defect lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child's condition could be the result of an error in medical care during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor can also be held responsible for birth injuries if they fail detect fetal distress or are unable to respond in a timely manner. This could lead to a variety of serious problems, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The distinction between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup and injuries are caused by something that happens during labor, pregnancy, or during delivery. Injury can include Erb's Palsy which is a condition where the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another injury is caput succedaneum which is an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of them can cause permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to look over your situation and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may help parents determine the reason behind a child's birth injury. While many birth defects are the result of genetics and the factors that influence a mother's pregnancy but they can also happen due to medications. Many commonly used medications can have negative effects on fetuses. This is particularly true in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of developing limb and brain deformities, heart defects, and craniosynostosis.

It is a doctor's professional duty to consider the potential risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors fail to follow this standard of care, then they may be held liable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers of the dangers that come with their medicines. 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.

A birth defect attorney can assist families in getting compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and the quality of life. This could include hospital costs, doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, in addition to assistive devices, and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring an action on behalf of the families of children suffering from congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the cause of the birth defects so that they can file a lawsuit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are just a few of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens, because they can interfere with the normal development of a fetus through chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs or prevent normal cell function. These chemicals are found in many different settings, including the manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects include hydrocarbons that are aliphatic, such as dichloroethane and trichloroethylene perchloroethylene. These chemicals have been proven to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to ensure that companies are held accountable for the families of soldiers who live at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have won significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family is concerned that the birth defect in their child could be the result of medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should consult an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb contaminants from the environment and then develop birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals can be dangerous to pregnant women.

Arsenic from drinking water or cadmium in coal that has been contaminated, for example, birth defect lawsuits can cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Industrial solvents such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers can increase the likelihood of birth defects occurring in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors as well as silicon chip displays and video displays.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits in behalf of children who suffered from various birth defects due to wrongful toxic or chemical exposure at work or at home. These lawsuits involve complicated scientific analyses and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.