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 expenses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can help you file a claim to recover reimbursement for the costs of caring for your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are complicated and it is essential to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. A doctor Birth Defect Attorneys can be held responsible for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defect lawsuits can determine the cause of your child's illness. caused by a medical error during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may be liable for a birth injury when they fail to diagnose or respond adequately to distress of the fetus. This can lead to many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. Injuries can be caused by Erb's palsy which occurs when the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another injury is caput succedaneum which is a swelling on the scalp. Both can result in permanent disability, and ongoing treatment can cost a significant amount of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to review your situation and determine the best method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may help parents determine the root cause of a child's birth injury. While many birth defects are caused by the genetics of the mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused due to medications. Many commonly used medications can have negative effects on the fetuses. This is especially relevant in the first three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs such as certain antibiotics and many more. These medications have been proven to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects, and craniosynostois.

A doctor's job is to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care, then they may be held liable for negligence. Pharma companies may also be held responsible for not properly informing mothers about the dangers of their medication. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to significantly increase the risk of major congenital defects in the first trimester of a pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families get compensation for the future and present medical expenses that result from the disability or injury and also loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital fees, doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, along with 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 resulting from the negligence of businesses which 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 case against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens at work or at home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are among the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens, because they can influence the healthy development of a foetus by causing chemical changes that cause abnormal organs or hinder normal cell function. These chemicals are found in a variety of settings, including metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects include the aliphatic hydrocarbons like trichloroethylene perchloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been found to cause birth problems, including cardiac disorders in babies born to mothers exposed to them while in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies involved in the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families whose children were born with severe birth defects due to the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by the combination of medical negligence as well as environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family believes the birth defect of their child may be the result of medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should talk to an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb contaminants from the environment, they can cause serious birth defects. These substances are known as teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our air, food and water. Certain of these chemicals are harmful to pregnant women.

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

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a range of birth defects as a result of wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at work or in their homes. These lawsuits typically require complicated scientific analysis and experts, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.