NEWS

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth deformity this can cause a lot of grief for the entire family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly add up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawsuit defect lawyer could assist you in filing an action to collect compensation for the cost of taking care of your child with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects can be complicated, so you should consult a lawyer as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. When a doctor's actions do not meet the standards and cause a birth defect or injury and/or death, they may be held accountable for the harms suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defects lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child's condition was caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could also be responsible for an injury that occurs during birth if they fail to diagnose or properly respond to fetal distress. This could lead to a variety of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The difference between a birth defect and a birth defect attorney injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are triggered by something occurring during pregnancy, labor, or the birth. A possible injury is Erb's spalsy which occurs when the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is caput succedaneum - an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of these could cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to examine your case and determine the most appropriate option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able to help parents determine the cause of the birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are the result of genetics and other factors that occur during the pregnancy of a mother but they can also happen due to medications. Certain commonly used medications can have negative effects on fetuses. This is especially relevant in the first three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines such as certain antibiotics and more. These medications have been linked to an increase in risk of deformities in the limbs and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostois.

It is the responsibility of a doctor to consider these risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, then they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharma companies may also be held accountable for not adequately informing mothers about the risks associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to increase the risk of major defects occurring in first-trimester pregnancies.

An attorney for birth defects can help a family get compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital expenses medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs and other expenses in addition to assistive devices, and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

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

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens, because they can affect the healthy development a embryo through chemical changes that cause abnormal organs or block normal cell function. These chemicals can be used in a variety of situations, such as processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that may cause birth defects are hydrocarbons with aliphatic properties, like dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, or perchloroethylene. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies that were involved in exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have won significant settlements on behalf of families whose children were born with severe defects as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

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

Chemicals and Birth defects other contaminants in the environment can cause serious birth defects 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 and a few are harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal for instance, could cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, used in the manufacture of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays, are recognized to increase a woman's chances of having birth defects too.

The experienced attorneys at LK's firm for birth defects have filed many lawsuits in the name of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects as a result of wrongful toxic or chemical exposure at work or at home. These lawsuits are based on complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.