Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect this can cause a huge impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly become a burden.

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects can help to file a claim for compensation for the costs of caring for your disabled children. A legal claim for birth defects can be complex, so you should consult a lawyer immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a set of guidelines when treating pregnant women and their babies. When a doctor's actions do not meet the standards and cause birth defects or injuries, they can be held accountable for damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer with expertise in lawsuits involving birth defects can help determine if your child's condition was caused by a medical error during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor may also be accountable for birth injuries if they fail to identify or appropriately respond to distress of the fetus. This can lead to a range of serious complications, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy.

The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic makeup and injuries are triggered by an event that occurs during labor, pregnancy or birth. Injury can include Erb's Palsy which is a condition where the nerves that control the baby's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is caput succedaneum which is an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of these conditions can lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical bills. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to examine your case and determine the most appropriate course of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may be able to help parents determine the reason behind a child's birth injury. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and other factors that occur during the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur due to medications. Many common medications have a significant impact on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most frequently used. These medications have been linked with an increased risk of limb defects and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostosis.

It is a doctor's professional duty to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. If doctors do not meet this standard of care, they could be liable for medical negligence. Pharma companies can also be held responsible for not adequately inform mothers of the risks of their medication. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of pregnancy.

A birth defect attorney can assist a family in obtaining compensation for medical expenses, loss of income 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 may bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities because due to the negligence of corporations who expose pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially-trained to determine the cause of birth defects, so that they can file a lawsuit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens because they affect the healthy growth of the fetus causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function, or can cause malformed organs. These chemicals can be found in many different settings, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits against various companies involved in exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families who had children born with severe defects due to the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some 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 baby could be due to medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemicals such as benzene, they should seek out a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb pollutants from the environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the term used to describe these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals could be harmful to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water and cadmium in coal that has been contaminated can trigger a variety of birth defects and other health problems. Certain birth defects can also be caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, which are used in the production of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays are well-known to increase the chance of having birth defects as well.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a myriad of birth defects as a result of wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at work or at home. These lawsuits typically involve sophisticated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.