Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can be devastating for you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other losses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville lawyer who specializes in birth defects could assist you seek reimbursement for the expenses of caring for your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled, so it is important to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their babies. If the actions of a doctor do not meet the standards and result in an injury or birth defect, they can be held accountable for the damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits for birth defects can help you determine if your child's illness could have been caused by an error made by the medical professional during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor can also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail detect fetal distress or do not respond appropriately. This can cause a number of serious complications, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery or labor. Injury can include Erb's Palsy which is a condition where the nerves that control the infant's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is caput succedaneum - an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of them can lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to review your situation and determine the best course of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents determine the reason for a child's birth injury or defect. Many birth defects result from birth defects or genetics. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. A variety of common medications can have a profound effect on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of a pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most frequently used. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of developing limb and heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.

A doctor's responsibility is to take into account the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care, they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers about the risks associated with their products. Zofran is a medication used to treat nausea among cancer patients, has been shown to increase the risk of major defects occurring in first-trimester pregnancies.

An attorney for birth defect birth defects can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This can include doctor's, hospital prescription, pharmaceutical, and other costs, in addition to aidive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit for families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities as a result of the negligence of businesses which expose pregnant women and drugs that can cause birth defects. They are trained to determine what caused the birth defect in order to file a lawsuit against companies which expose mothers to teratogens during the time they are at work or in their homes.

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are among 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 disrupt normal cell function. These chemicals can be present in a variety situations, such as semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these kerman birth defect attorney defect lawyers have won substantial settlements for families who have children who were born with severe defects resulting from the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family is concerned that the birth defect in their child could be a result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should contact an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.

Chemicals and other pollutants in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature if they are ingested or absorbed by pregnant women. These chemicals are called teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals could be harmful to pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking waters or cadmium in coal that has been contaminated for instance, may cause birth defects and other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be associated with industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers, which are employed in the manufacturing of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays, are recognized to increase a woman's risk of birth defects.

Our experienced attorneys for foley birth defect attorney defects have filed many 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.