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

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect it could have a devastating effect on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can assist you in filing an appeal to receive compensation for the cost of taking care of your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are a bit nebulous and it is essential to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their babies. A doctor could be held responsible for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits involving birth defects can assist you in determining whether your child's condition could be due to an error in medical care during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may also be accountable for a birth injury when they fail to recognize or properly respond to distress in the fetus. This can cause a number of serious problems, including hypoxic ischemic disorder (HIE) and brain injuries, such as cerebral palsy.

The difference between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup, while injuries are caused by something that happens during labor, pregnancy or during delivery. The causes of injuries include ailments like Erb's palsy which develops when the nerves that energize and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or ruptured during birth and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both of these can result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in significant medical bills. A Washington, DC lawyer who is an expert in birth defects may provide a free consultation to examine your case and decide on the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

An attorney for birth defects may be able help parents determine the root cause of a child's birth defect. Many birth defects are caused by genetics or factors during pregnancy. However, medications can also cause birth defects. A variety of commonly used medications can have a negative impact on fetuses. This is especially applicable in the early months of pregnancy. They include anti-nausea medicines and NSAIDs as well as chemotherapy medications, certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of developing limb and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the responsibility of a doctor to consider these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. When doctors fail to meet the requirements of this standard of care, they may be liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for failing to adequately warn mothers about the risks associated with their products. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of a pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families get reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses resulting from the disability or injury, in addition to loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital costs medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs and other costs, along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring an action on behalf families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of companies that expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the cause of birth defects, so that they can bring a case against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or at home.

Metals, fungicides and birth defect herbicides as well as pesticides are among the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called Teratogens since they interfere with the development of the fetus by causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function, or can cause organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals are used in a variety of settings, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers who live at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have won substantial settlements for families that had children born with serious defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors or chemicals. If a family believes that the birth defect of their child could be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should consult a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.

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

Arsenic found in drinking water or cadmium from coal that is contaminated, for example, can cause birth defects as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects are caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, employed in the manufacturing of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are recognized to increase a woman's risk of birth defects as well.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects as a result of an unintentional exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits often involve an extensive scientific analysis as well as experts as witnesses, like toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, embryologists and occupational medicine experts.