15 Terms Everyone Within The Birth Defect Litigation Industry Should Know

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth, it can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly add up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can help you file an action to collect compensation for the costs of taking care of your child with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, which is why you should consult with a legal professional whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their infants. If the actions of a doctor fall below this standard and result in birth defects or injuries, they can be held accountable for the injuries suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer with expertise in lawsuits involving birth defects can help determine if your child's condition was caused by a medical error during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor could also be the cause of a birth injury when they fail in diagnosing or adequately respond to distress of the fetus. This can lead to a range of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

The distinction between birth defects and 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 labor, pregnancy, or during delivery. Injury can include Erb's Palsy where the nerves that control the infant's arms and legs are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is caput succedaneum - an inflammation 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 can offer a no-cost initial consultation to look over your case and determine the most appropriate course of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may help parents determine the cause for the birth injury of a child. Many birth defects result from birth defect attorney defects or genetics. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. A number of commonly used medications have a profound effect on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of a pregnancy. They include anti-nausea medicines and NSAIDs as well as chemotherapy medications as well as certain antibiotics, and more. These medications have been linked with an increased chance of limb deformities, brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostosis.

It is the duty of a doctor to be aware of the risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors fail to meet this standard of care, they may be liable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for not properly warning mothers of the dangers that come with their medications. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to significantly increase the risk of major congenital defects in the first trimester of a pregnancy.

An attorney for birth defects can help a family get compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of living. This can include doctor's, hospital, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well aidive devices and therapies.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of businesses who expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to find out the reason for the birth defect, so they can bring a lawsuit against the companies which expose mothers to teratogens as they are working or in their homes.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects include the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as Teratogens since they interfere with the development of the fetus through producing chemical changes that block normal cell function, or can cause organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in many different settings, including the manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

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

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

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by the combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family believes that their child's birth defect may be due to medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should speak with an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

Chemicals and other pollutants in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are consumed or absorbed by pregnant women. Teratogens are the term used to describe these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals could be dangerous to pregnant women.

Arsenic found in drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal for instance, could cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects are also caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, which are utilized in the production of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are known to increase the chance of having birth defects.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a variety of birth defects due to the wrongful exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at their workplace or home. These lawsuits involve complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.