15 Terms Everybody In The Birth Defect Litigation Industry Should Know

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth deformity it could be devastating for your family and you. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other expenses can quickly accumulate.

A Hyattsville lawyer who specializes in birth defects can help you file for compensation for the costs of caring for your disabled children. A legal claim for birth defects may be complicated, and you should seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their babies. If the actions of a doctor fall below this standard and cause an injury or birth defect or injury, they could be held accountable for harms suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer with expertise in lawsuits for birth defects will help you determine the cause of your child's illness. caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail to recognize fetal distress and do not respond appropriately. This can cause a number 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, while injuries are caused due to something happening during pregnancy, labor, or birth defect attorney. Injury can include Erb's Palsy where the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is the caput succedaneum, an increase in the size 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 look over your case and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able to help parents determine the reason for a child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and other factors that occur during the pregnancy of a mother but they can also happen because of medications. A variety of common medications can have negative effects on fetuses. This is especially evident in the initial three months of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication and NSAIDs as well as chemotherapy medications including certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of limb and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the duty of a doctor to consider these risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. When doctors fail to meet the requirements of this standard of care, they may be liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers of the dangers associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects in the first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families get compensation for the future and present medical expenses associated with the disability or injury in addition to loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital costs as well as doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, as well as assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of companies who expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to determine the cause of the birth defect in order to sue companies that expose mothers to teratogens while they work or at their home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens, because they can affect the development of a healthy the fetus via chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs, or disrupt normal cell function. These chemicals are found in a variety of locations, such as the manufacturing of semiconductors and cleaning of metals.

Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been known to cause birth defects, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers exposed to them during the womb.

Parents have filed suit against a number of companies who were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have gotten significant settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects may be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a child could be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemical such as benzene, they should seek out an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb pollutants from the environment They could cause serious birth defects. These substances are known as Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals are dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium in coal that is contaminated can cause various birth defects, as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers can increase the risk of birth defects among women. These chemicals are used in the production of semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a wide range of birth defects caused by wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits often involve sophisticated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts and embryologists.