Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can help you file an action to collect compensation for the cost of caring for your disabled child. 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 the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. A doctor can be held responsible for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in lawsuits for birth defects will help you determine if your child's illness could be the result of an error in medical care during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be accountable for birth injuries if they fail to diagnose or appropriately respond to distress of the fetus. This could lead to many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The distinction between a lemont birth defect lawsuit defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup, while injuries are caused by an event that occurs during pregnancy, labor, or during delivery. Injuries can include conditions such as Erb's palsy which is caused when the nerves which energize and control the infant's arms are stretched or damaged during birth and caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of these can cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best course of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to help parents determine the cause of a child's birth injury or defect. Many moncks corner birth defect law firm defects result from genes or other factors that occur during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. A number of commonly used medications have a profound effect on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of a pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines, certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of developing limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's responsibility is to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharma companies can also be held responsible for not properly informing mothers of the risks associated with their medication. For instance, 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.

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

Chemical Exposure

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

Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects include the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as teratogens because they affect the development of the fetus through making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or cause organs to be malformed. These chemicals are found in many different locations, such as semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers who were exposed during their time in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies who were responsible for exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements on behalf families who had their children born with serious defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors or chemicals. If a family is concerned that the birth defect in their child could be due to medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should talk to a DC Sidney birth defect law firm injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

Chemicals and other pollutants in the environment can cause serious birth defects when they are consumed or taken in by pregnant women. These substances are known as teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are present in our food, air and water, and some of them can be harmful when they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water and cadmium from coal that has been contaminated can trigger a variety of birth defects and health issues. Industrial solvents, such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also linked with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers, which are used in the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are known to increase a woman's risk of birth defects too.

The experienced lawyers at LK for birth defects have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects as a result of accidental exposure to toxic chemicals or chemicals at work or at home. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.