Five Laws That Will Aid Those In Birth Defect Litigation Industry

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects could help you claim compensation for the costs of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects can be complicated, so you should seek legal counsel immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a certain standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. Doctors can be held liable for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine if your child's illness could be the result of an error in medical care during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor can be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail detect fetal distress or fail to respond appropriately. This can cause many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. Injuries can include issues like Erb's syndrome, which occurs when the nerves that power and control an infant's arms are stretched or damaged during birth as well as caput succedaneum which is a swelling of the scalp. Both can result in a permanent disability, and ongoing treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to help parents determine the cause for Birth Defect Lawsuits an infant's birth injury. While many birth defects are due to the genetics of the mother's pregnancy but they can also happen as a result of medication. A number of commonly used medications have a significant effect on fetuses, especially in the first trimester of a pregnancy. These include anti-nausea medications such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines, certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been linked to a higher risk of deformities in the limbs and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's duty is to take into account the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet the requirements of this standard of care, they could be liable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not adequately informing mothers of the dangers associated with their medicines. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during the first trimester of 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, 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 as a result of the negligence of businesses who expose pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to determine the cause of birth defects so that they can file a lawsuit against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures 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 due to their impact on the development of the fetus making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be present in a variety locations, such as semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families who had their children born with severe defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family suspects a child's birth defects may be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemicals and/or environmental factors, they should talk to an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

If pregnant women consume or absorb pollutants from the environment, they can cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are present in our food, air and water and a few could be harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium found in coal that has been contaminated for instance, could cause birth defects and other health problems. Industrial solvents, such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the chance of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used in the production of semiconductors as well as silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects due to the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits usually involve a an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.