Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can help you file a claim to recover compensation for the costs of caring for your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are a bit nebulous, so it is important to seek legal advice immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a set of guidelines when treating pregnant women and their infants. When a doctor's actions are in violation of this standard and result in a birth defect or injury the doctor could be held accountable for the damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced in lawsuits involving birth defects can help you determine whether your child's illness could be due to an error in medical care during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may also be held responsible for birth injuries if they fail to detect fetal distress or don't respond appropriately. This can cause numerous serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The distinction between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are triggered by an event that occurs during pregnancy, labor, or the birth. A possible injury is Erb's spalsy, where the nerves controlling the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is caput succedaneum - swelling of the scalp. Both can result in permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost a great deal of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able help parents determine the cause for the birth injury of a child. Many birth defects result from genetics or factors during pregnancy. However, medications can also cause waxahachie birth defect attorney defects. Certain commonly used medications can have a negative impact on fetuses. This is particularly true in the first three months of pregnancy. They include anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications as well as certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of limb and heart defects, brain deformities, and craniosynostosis.

A doctor's responsibility is to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet this standard of care, they could be held accountable for medical negligence. Pharma companies could also be held accountable for not properly informing mothers about the dangers of their medication. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven 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, income loss and quality of life. This can include hospital costs, doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, as well as assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can sue families of children with congenital disabilities as a result due to the negligence of corporations exposing pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to determine the cause of the birth defect in order to sue companies which expose mothers to teratogens as they work or at their home.

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens because they affect the healthy development of the fetus through creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function, or can cause organs to be malformed. These chemicals are present in many different settings, including 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 firm dichloroethane. These chemicals have been known to cause birth defects, including cardiac defects, in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them while in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against a variety of firms that were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have obtained significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with serious defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a child could be the result of medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should consult a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other substances in the environment can cause serious birth defects if they are ingested or absorbed by pregnant women. Teratogens are the names given to these substances. Over 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water, and some of them could be harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal for instance, may cause birth defects and other health issues. Certain birth defects are related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, used in the manufacture of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays, are well-known to increase the chances of having birth defects as well.

The experienced attorneys at LK's firm for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits on the name of children who suffered from a variety of belfast birth defect lawyer defects due to accidental exposure to toxic chemicals or chemicals at their workplace or home. These lawsuits usually involve a an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, including toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.