Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can have a devastating effect on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly increase.

A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects can help you claim compensation to cover the costs of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, so you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow an appropriate standard of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. A doctor can be held responsible for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with expertise in lawsuits for birth defects can determine whether your child's condition was caused by a medical error during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor could also be the cause of a birth injury when they fail to diagnose or adequately respond to distress in the fetus. This can cause various serious problems, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy as well as brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The distinction between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic make-up, while injuries are caused by an event that occurs during pregnancy, labor, or during delivery. Injury can include Erb's Palsy where the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another injury is caput succedaneum which is an inflammation of the scalp. Both of them can cause permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to review your situation and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able to assist parents determine the cause of a child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are the result of genetics and other factors that occur during a mother's pregnancy, they can also occur because of medications. Certain common medications have a significant effect on fetuses and babies, particularly during the first trimester of a pregnancy. They include anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs including certain antibiotics, and many more. These medications have been linked with an increased risk of limb defects and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostosis.

It is the professional responsibility of doctors to be aware of these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. If doctors fail to follow this standard of care, they may be held liable for negligence. Pharma companies could also be held accountable for not adequately informing mothers about the dangers of their medication. Zofran is a drug used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects occurring in first-trimester pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can help family members receive reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses associated with the disability or injury, and also loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital costs physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, as well assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf families of children with 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 reason for birth defect attorneys the birth defect, so they can bring a lawsuit against companies who expose mothers to teratogens during the time they are working or in their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects include the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens due to their impact on the healthy development of the fetus by making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or lead to organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals can be used in a variety of environments, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that may cause birth defects include hydrocarbons with aliphatic properties, like dichloroethane and trichloroethylene perchloroethylene. These chemicals are known to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several firms that were responsible for exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have won substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe birth defects due to the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors or chemicals. If a family is concerned that their child's birth defect may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should speak with an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb pollutants from the environment they could develop serious birth defects. These substances are referred to as teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our food, air and birth defect Attorneys water. Some of these chemicals may be harmful to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water as well as cadmium derived from coal that is contaminated may cause numerous birth defects and other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers, which are used in the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are recognized to increase a woman's risk of developing birth defects as well.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a range of birth defects caused by improper exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits often involve sophisticated scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts and embryologists.