Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth deformity, it can have a devastating effect on your family as well as you. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects may be able to help to file a claim for compensation for the cost of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complex, so you should seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to an appropriate standard of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. When a doctor's actions are not in line with this standard and cause an injury or birth defect, they can be held accountable for the damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced in lawsuits for birth defects can assist you in determining whether your child's condition could be the result of an error made by a doctor during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could also be accountable for an injury to the fetus if they fail to recognize or respond adequately to distress of the fetus. This can lead to a range of serious issues, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery or labor. Injuries can be caused by Erb's palsy where the nerves that control the infant's arms and legs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is caput succedaneum - an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of these conditions can result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to review your case and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may be able to assist parents in determining the cause for the birth injury of a child. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and other factors that occur during a mother's pregnancy but they can also happen as a result of medications. Many common medications have a significant impact on fetuses, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. They include anti-nausea medicines such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines, certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of developing limb and heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.

A doctor's duty is to take into account these risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors fail to meet the standards of care required, they could be held accountable for medical negligence. Pharma companies could also be held accountable for not adequately informing mothers of the risks associated with their medications. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of pregnancies.

A birth defect attorney can help a family get compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of living. This could include doctor's, hospital prescription, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well as assistive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer could bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities as a result due to the negligence of corporations exposing pregnant women to chemicals and medications that cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to identify the reason for the birth defect so that they can bring a lawsuit against the companies that expose mothers to teratogens as they work or at their home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as Teratogens as they interfere with the development of the fetus through creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals are found in a variety of environments, including semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits to ensure that companies are held accountable for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects resulting from the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by an unintended medical error as well as environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family suspects the birth defects of a baby could 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 attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are inhaled or taken in by pregnant women. Teratogens is the name given to these substances. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals can be dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water and cadmium in contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects, as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects are also caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers also increase the likelihood of birth defects occurring in women. These chemicals are used to manufacture semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a wide range of birth defects as a result of unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at work or at home. These lawsuits often involve complicated scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.