12 Companies Leading The Way In Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can be devastating for you and your family. Therapy costs, medical bills and other losses can quickly add up.

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects could assist you file for compensation for the cost of caring for your disabled children. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and therefore it is crucial to seek legal advice as soon as 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 liable for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine whether your child's condition could be due to a medical error during pregnancy or delivery.

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

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery or labor. The most common injuries are Erb's Palsy which is a condition where the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is caput succedaneum - swelling of the scalp. Both of them can cause permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to review your case and determine the most appropriate way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents determine the reason for a child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and factors during the mother's pregnancy but they can also happen as a result of medication. Certain common medications can have a negative impact on foetuses. This is particularly relevant in the first three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, birth defect lawsuits NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications, certain antibiotics, and Birth Defect Lawsuits many more. These drugs have been linked to a higher chance of limb deformities, heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.

A doctor's responsibility is to be aware of the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to the standards of care required, they could be liable for medical negligence. Pharma companies can also be held accountable for not adequately informing mothers of the risks associated with their medications. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of major congenital defects in the first trimester of pregnancy.

An attorney for birth defects can assist families in getting compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of life. This could include hospital fees physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who have congenital disabilities because of the negligence of businesses which expose pregnant women and drugs that cause birth deformities. They are trained to discover the cause of the birth defect so that they can bring a lawsuit against companies which expose mothers to teratogens while they work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. They are referred to as Teratogens as they interfere with the healthy development of the fetus through creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or cause malformed organs. These chemicals are present in many different settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

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 found to cause birth defects, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them in the womb.

Parents have filed suit against a number of 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 have children who were born with severe defects resulting from the exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family believes that the birth defect lawyers defect of their child may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should speak with a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause serious birth defect attorney defects if they are ingested or taken in by pregnant women. These substances are known as Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals are dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic found in drinking water and cadmium from coal that is contaminated may cause various birth defects and health issues. Certain birth defects are also associated with industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the risk of birth defects among women. These chemicals are used to manufacture semiconductors as well as silicon chip displays and video displays.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed many lawsuits in the name of children who suffered from various birth defects as a result of an unintentional exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits usually involve a complex scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.