Guide To Birth Defect Litigation: The Intermediate Guide 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 costs and other expenses can quickly increase.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could help you file claim for compensation for the cost of taking care of your disabled child. A legal claim for birth defects may be complex, so you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their babies. A doctor can be held accountable for any damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defects lawsuits can help determine whether your child's condition was caused by a medical error during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor may also be responsible for an injury that occurs during birth if they fail to diagnose or appropriately respond to distress in the fetus. This can result in many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy as well as brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The distinction between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are caused by something that happens during pregnancy, labor, or birth during delivery. A possible injury is Erb's spalsy which is a condition where the nerves that control the infant'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 cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in significant medical bills. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes in birth defects can provide a free consultation to analyze your case and decide on the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may help parents determine the cause for the birth injury of a child. Many birth defects are caused by 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 during the first trimester of a pregnancy. Anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, and birth chemotherapy medications are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of limb and heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.

It is the duty of a doctor to take into consideration these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. If doctors do not meet the requirements of this standard of care, they could be held accountable for medical malpractice. Pharma companies can also be held responsible for not adequately informing mothers of the risks associated with their medication. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, has been shown to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect attorney can assist a family in obtaining compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of living. This could include hospital costs, doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, as well as assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer could bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who have congenital disabilities because from the negligence of companies exposing pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth deformities. They are trained to identify the cause of the birth defects so that they can file a lawsuit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at workplace or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures that can 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 healthy development of the fetus through causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function or cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in a variety of settings including the manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals are known to cause heart defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed during their time in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies who were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have won substantial settlements for families who had children born with severe defects resulting from the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by an unintended medical error and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects that a child's birth defects may be due to medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemical or chemical substances, they should speak with an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

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

Arsenic from drinking water or cadmium from coal that is contaminated for instance, can cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers also increase the chance of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a variety of birth defects as a result of unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits usually involve a complex scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts and embryologists.