Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth, it can cause a huge impact on you and your family. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other losses can quickly add up.

A Hyattsville lawyer that specializes in birth defects could help you file for compensation for the cost of caring for your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and therefore it is crucial to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held responsible for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who is experienced in birth defect lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child's health condition may have been caused by an error made by the medical professional during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor could be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail diagnose fetal distress or don't respond appropriately. This can result in a variety of serious problems, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries, such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery or labor. Injury can include Erb's Palsy which occurs when the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is caput succedaneum - swelling of the scalp. Both of these could lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes in birth defects can provide a no-cost consultation to examine your case and decide on the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents determine the cause of a child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and factors during the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur because of medications. Many commonly used medications can have negative effects on foetuses. This is especially evident in the initial three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea medications such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines as well as certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been linked to an increased risk of limb defects and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostois.

It is the duty of a doctor to consider the risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care, they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for not adequately warning mothers of the dangers that come with their drugs. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was shown to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancy.

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

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring an action on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of businesses who expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially-trained to determine the cause of birth defects so that they can bring a case against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at work or at home.

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. They are referred to as teratogens because they affect the healthy growth of the fetus making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or cause malformed organs. These chemicals can be found in many different situations, such as semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been known to cause birth defects, such as cardiac defects, in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them while in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to hold companies accountable for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects resulting from the exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by an unintended medical error and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects the birth defects of a child may be the result of medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemical or chemical substances, they should speak with an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

If pregnant women inhale or absorb pollutants from the environment, they can cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Certain of these chemicals can be harmful to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water, and cadmium from coal that has been contaminated can trigger a variety of birth defects and other health issues. Industrial solvents such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and toluene (a metal degreaser) are also linked with certain birth defect lawsuit defects. Glycol-ethers also increase the risk of birth defects among women. These chemicals are used for the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's skilled birth defect attorneys have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a variety of birth defects due to unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at work or at home. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.