Tips For Explaining Birth Defect Litigation To Your Mom

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth this can be devastating for you and your family. Therapy costs, medical bills and other losses can quickly accumulate.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing claim for compensation for the cost of caring for your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and it is essential to seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. A doctor could be held accountable for any damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits will help you determine if your child's illness could have been caused by an error made by the medical professional during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor may also be held responsible for birth injuries if they fail to diagnose fetal distress or are unable to respond in a timely manner. This could lead to numerous serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and hypoxic encephalopathy such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. A possible injury is Erb's spalsy where the nerves that control the baby's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another injury is caput succedaneum - an increase in the size of the scalp. Both can lead to a permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost a great deal of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to look over your case and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents identify the cause of a child's birth injury, or defect. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and factors during the pregnancy of a mother however, they may also occur because of medications. A variety of common medications can have a profound effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of a pregnancy. Anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, and chemotherapy drugs are among the most frequently used. These medications have been proven to increase the risk of developing limb and brain defects, heart defects, and craniosynostois.

A doctor's job is to consider these risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors fail to meet the standards of care required, they could be liable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for not adequately informing mothers about the risks associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can help families get compensation for future and current medical expenses resulting from the disability or injury in addition to loss of earnings and quality of life. This could include hospital, doctor's or pharmaceutical costs, as well as aidive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to discover the reason for the birth defect to bring a lawsuit against companies who expose mothers to teratogens as they are working or in their home.

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as Teratogens since they affect the healthy development a embryo through chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs or block normal cell function. These chemicals can be found in a variety of locations, such as processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been found to cause birth problems, including cardiac disorders in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to expose companies to liability for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have gotten significant settlements for families who had their children born with severe birth defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by the combination of medical negligence as well as environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family suspects that the birth defect of their child may be due to medical negligence, birth defect lawyer prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should contact a DC birth defect attorney injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Certain of these chemicals could be dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic in drinking water, and cadmium from coal that is contaminated can cause a variety of birth defects, as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects can also be caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser), 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 risk of developing birth defects as well.

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a wide range of birth defects caused by wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits involve complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.