Guide To Birth Defect Litigation: The Intermediate Guide The Steps To Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect it could cause a huge impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other expenses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects could help you file for compensation to cover the costs of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects may be complicated, which is why you should seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. When a doctor's actions are not in line with this standard and result in an injury or birth defect, they can be held liable for the damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits involving birth defects will help you determine if your child's illness could have been caused by an error made by the medical professional during pregnancy or [empty] during delivery.

A doctor could also be the cause of birth injuries if they fail to diagnose or adequately respond to distress in the fetus. This can lead to a range of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and cerebral palsy.

The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup however, injuries are caused due to something happening during pregnancy, labor, or during delivery. Injuries can be caused by Erb's palsy which is a condition where the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is called caput succedaneum. It's an inflammation of the scalp. Both can lead to a permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to analyze your situation and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents determine the cause of a child's birth injury, or defect. Many birth 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, especially in the first trimester of a pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of limb and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's job is to consider the risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors fail to meet this standard of care, they could be liable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for failing to adequately warn mothers of the dangers that come with their medications. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to increase the risk of major defects in first-trimester pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can help families get reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses related to the injury or disability, and also loss of earnings and the quality of life. This can include doctor's, hospital, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well as assistive devices and therapies.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf of parents of children with congenital disabilities because of the negligence of companies exposing pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the reason for birth defects so they can bring a suit against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens at work or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects include herbicides, fungicides, metals and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as Teratogens because they interfere with the normal development of a fetus through chemical changes that can cause abnormal organs or hinder normal cell function. These chemicals are found in various settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are the aliphatic hydrocarbons like dichloroethane or trichloroethylene perchloroethylene. These chemicals have been shown to cause birth defects, including cardiac defects, in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them during the womb.

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

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are 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 chemical such as benzene, they should seek out an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other contaminants in the environment can cause serious birth defects if they are ingested or housesofindustry.org absorbed by pregnant women. Teratogens are the term used to describe these substances. More than 4 million chemicals are present in our air, food and water, and some of them are harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

For example, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium from coal that is contaminated can cause numerous birth defect attorney defects and other health problems. Certain birth defects are linked to industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, which are utilized in the production of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays, are recognized to increase a woman's chances of having birth defects too.

The experienced birth defect attorney defect attorneys at LK have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a variety of birth defects resulting from the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at work or in their homes. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.