7 Simple Strategies To Completely Rolling With Your Birth Defect Litigation
Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child is born with a birth defect, it can cause a lot of grief for you and your entire family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly accumulate.
A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing claim for reimbursement for the costs of taking care of your child with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects may be complicated, so you should seek legal advice whenever you can.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals are required to adhere to a certain standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. Doctors can be held accountable for any damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits will 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 also be held responsible for birth injuries if they fail to recognize fetal distress and don't respond appropriately. This can cause a number of serious issues, such as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy.
The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up, while injuries are caused by an event that occurs during labor, pregnancy or the birth. These injuries can be caused by conditions such as Erb's palsy, which occurs when the nerves which energize and control an infant's arms are stretched or damaged during birth and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both of these can cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting 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 option for you and your child.
Prescription Drugs
A birth defect lawsuit defect lawyer might be able help parents determine the root of a child's birth 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 due to medications. A variety of common medications can have a significant impact on fetuses especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs, certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of developing limb and heart defects, brain deformities, and craniosynostois.
A doctor's job is to be aware of the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to meet this standard of care, they could be held liable for medical negligence. Pharma companies could also be held accountable for not adequately informing mothers about the dangers associated with their medication. Zofran, which is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was found to increase the risk of major defects in the first trimester pregnancies.
A birth defect attorney can assist families in getting compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of life. This could include doctor's, hospital prescription, pharmaceutical, and other costs, in addition to aidive devices and treatments.
Chemical Exposure
A birth defect lawyer can sue parents of children with congenital disabilities because due to the negligence of corporations which expose pregnant women and drugs that can cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to identify the cause of the birth defects so that they can bring a suit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.
Metals, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are just a few of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called Teratogens as they interfere with the healthy growth of the fetus creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function or lead to malformed organs. These chemicals are used in various settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, cleaning of metals and paint production.
Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are hydrocarbons that are aliphatic, such as dichloroethane or trichloroethylene perchloroethylene. These chemicals are known to cause heart defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed during their time in the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits in order to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have secured significant settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects due to the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.
Environmental Exposure
Some birth defects could be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family is concerned that the birth defect lawsuits defect of their child could be a result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should talk to a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.
Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause serious birth defects when they are inhaled or absorbed by pregnant women. These chemicals are called teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water and some can be harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.
For example, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium from coal that has been contaminated can trigger numerous birth defects as well as other health problems. Industrial solvents, such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers can increase the risk of birth defects among women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors display panels, silicon chip displays, and video displays.
The experienced attorneys at LK's firm for birth defects have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from various birth defects as a result of accidental exposure to toxic chemicals or chemicals at their workplace or home. These lawsuits typically involve sophisticated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, including toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts and embryologists.