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

Why You Should Hire a birth defect (Read the Full Guide) Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects may be able to help to file a claim for compensation for the costs of caring for your disabled children. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, so you should consult a lawyer as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their infants. If a doctor's actions fall below this standard and cause birth defects or injuries and/or death, they may be held responsible for injuries suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help determine whether your child's condition was caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor could also be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail recognize fetal distress and fail to respond appropriately. This can lead to a range of serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (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 causes of injuries include ailments like Erb's palsy which is caused when the nerves that energize and control the infant's arms are stretched or ruptured during birth and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both of these conditions can result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in hefty medical costs. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes in birth defects can offer a free consultation in order to examine your case and decide on the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may be able to assist parents in determining the cause for a child's birth injury. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and other factors that occur during the mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused due to medications. A variety of common medications can have a significant impact on fetuses, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications including certain antibiotics, and many more. These medications have been linked with an increased chance of limb deformities, brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostosis.

A doctor's duty is to take into account these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not meet the requirements of this standard of care, they could be liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers about the risks associated with their medicines. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during the first trimester of pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist family members receive compensation for future and current medical expenses associated with the disability or injury, in addition to 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 may bring a lawsuit on behalf families of children with congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of businesses that expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to discover what caused the birth defect, so they can bring a lawsuit against the companies who expose mothers to teratogens as they are working or in their home.

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are among the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as Teratogens since they affect the healthy development a foetus by causing chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs or block normal cell function. These chemicals are present in diverse settings like manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other hazardous chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons with aliphatic chlorinated chemistry such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed suit against a number of companies involved in the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have obtained significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe birth defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals 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 suspects that their child's birth defect may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should speak with an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb contaminants from the environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens is the name given to these chemicals. Over 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water Some of them could be harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking waters or birth defect cadmium in coal that has been contaminated for instance, may cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Industrial solvents such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defects. Glycol ethers that are employed in the manufacturing of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays are well-known to increase the chances of having birth defects too.

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a range of birth defects due to improper exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits typically require complex scientific analysis and experts, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts and embryologists.