15 Reasons To Love Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects could assist to file a claim for compensation for the cost of caring for your child with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects can be complicated, and you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow an appropriate standard of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. When a doctor's actions are not in line with this standard and cause birth defects or injuries the doctor could be held accountable for damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine if your child's health condition may be due to a medical error during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor could also be the cause of Birth Defect Lawsuit injuries if they fail to diagnose or properly respond to distress in the fetus. This can cause numerous serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The difference between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up however, injuries are caused by something occurring during labor, pregnancy or the birth. A possible injury is Erb's spalsy which occurs when the nerves that control the baby's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is caput succedaneum which is a swelling on the scalp. Both can result in lifelong disability, and ongoing treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to look over your case and determine the best method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect law firms defect lawyer could be able to assist parents determine the reason for the birth injury or defect. Many birth defects are caused by birth defects or genetics. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. Many common medications can have negative effects on foetuses. This is particularly applicable in the early months of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines including certain antibiotics, and more. These medications have been proven to increase the risk of limb and heart defects, brain deformities, and craniosynostosis.

It is the professional responsibility of doctors to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. If doctors fail to follow this standard of care, they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers of the dangers associated with their products. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of major congenital problems in the first trimester of pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families get reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses associated with the injury or disability, as well as loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital costs, doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses as well assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities because due to the negligence of corporations which expose pregnant women and drugs that cause birth deformities. They are trained to find out the cause of the birth defect in order to bring a lawsuit against companies that expose mothers to teratogens during the time they work or in their home.

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

Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons with aliphatic chlorinated chemistry such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against a variety of companies who were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families who had children born with serious defects as a result of the exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family believes that the birth defect of their child may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should contact a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.

If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from their environment they could develop serious birth defects. These substances are referred to as Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals could be harmful to pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium found in coal that has been contaminated, for example, can cause birth defects and other health problems. Certain birth defects are also associated with industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. 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 as well.

The experienced attorneys at LK's firm for birth defect lawsuit birth defects have filed numerous lawsuits in behalf of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects due to wrongful toxic or chemical exposure at their workplace or home. These lawsuits often involve complex scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine specialists and embryologists.