10 Things We Are Hateful About Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can cause a lot of grief for the entire family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly become a burden.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing an appeal to receive reimbursement for the costs of caring for your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are complicated 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 or their babies. Doctors can be held accountable for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits for birth defects can assist you in determining whether your child's condition could be due to an error made by a doctor during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be accountable for birth injuries if they fail to diagnose or appropriately respond to fetal distress. This can result in various serious problems, including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and hypoxic encephalopathy such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. The most common injuries are Erb's Palsy, where the nerves controlling the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is caput succedaneum - swelling of the scalp. Both of these could result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC lawyer who is skilled in birth defects can offer a free consultation in order to review your case, and determine the best course of action for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able to assist parents identify the cause of a child's birth injury, or defect. Many birth defects result from birth defects or genetics. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. Many common medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is especially relevant in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most popular. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of developing limb and heart defects, brain deformities, and craniosynostois.

A doctor's duty is to take into account these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care they may be liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers of the dangers that come with their medications. Zofran is a drug used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was shown to increase the risk of major defects in first-trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist family members receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses that result from the disability or injury, and also loss of earnings and quality of life. This could include hospital expenses physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses as well assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file an action on behalf 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 determine the root of birth defects so they can bring a suit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at work or in their home.

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are among the chemicals that can cause birth defects. They are referred to as Teratogens as they interfere with the healthy development of the fetus making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or create organs that are malformed. These chemicals are found in many different settings, birth defect attorneys including semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defect lawsuit defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons with aliphatic chlorinated chemistry such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been known to cause birth problems, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them during the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several companies involved in exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have won substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe birth defects due to the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family is concerned that the birth defect in their child could result from medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should speak with a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

If pregnant women inhale or absorb pollutants from the environment they could develop serious birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these substances. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals are harmful to pregnant women.

For example, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium from contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects, as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects can also be associated with industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, which are used in the production of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays are well-known to increase the risk of developing birth defects.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a variety of birth defects due to improper exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits usually involve a complicated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, including toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.