Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth deformity it could have a devastating effect on your family as well as you. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly increase.

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects could help you file for compensation for the cost of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, so you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor could be held accountable for any damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with expertise in lawsuits for birth defects can help determine whether your child's condition was caused by a medical mistake during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail to identify fetal distress, or are unable to respond in a timely manner. This can lead to a range of serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic makeup, birth defect lawyer while injuries are caused due to something happening during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. Injury can include Erb's Palsy, where the nerves controlling the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another injury is caput succedaneum which is an increase in the size 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 birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to look over your case and determine the most appropriate method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth Defect lawyer; lil.so, might be able to help parents determine the reason behind a child's birth injury. Many birth defect law firms defects result from birth defects or genetics. However, medications can also cause birth defects. Certain common medications have a profound effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of a pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs including certain antibiotics, and more. These medications have been linked to an increased chance of limb deformities, heart defects, brain defects 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 this standard of care, they may be held liable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers about the risks associated with their drugs. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of pregnancy.

An attorney who specializes in birth defects can help a family get compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital fees, doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit for families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities because of the negligence of businesses who expose pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially-trained to determine the root of the birth defects so that they can bring a suit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at workplace or at home.

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. They are referred to as teratogens because they affect the healthy development of the fetus by producing chemical changes that block normal cell function, or can cause organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals are used in a variety of settings, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene (trichloroethylene), trichloroethylene ( dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers who were exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families whose children were born with serious defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures on the base.

Environmental Exposure

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

If pregnant women ingest or absorb pollutants from the environment they could develop serious birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water and some can be harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

Arsenic from drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal, for example, can cause birth defects and other health problems. Industrial solvents, such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and toluene (a metal degreaser) are also linked with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers, which are employed in the manufacturing of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are well-known to increase the risk of developing birth defects.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits in behalf of children who suffered from many birth defects due to the wrongful exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at their workplace or home. These lawsuits typically involve complex scientific analysis and experts, such as toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists embryologists and occupational medicine experts.