What You Should Be Focusing On Improving Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can have a devastating impact on you and your family. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other expenses can quickly accumulate.

A Hyattsville birth defect attorney defect lawyer could assist you in filing an action to collect compensation for the expenses of caring for your disabled child. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, which is why you should seek legal counsel immediately.

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 are in violation of this standard and cause an injury or birth defect and/or death, they may be held accountable for damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer who has expertise in lawsuits involving birth defects can assist you in determining if your child's condition was caused by a medical error during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could also be responsible for a birth injury when they fail in diagnosing or properly respond to distress in the fetus. This could lead to numerous serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and hypoxic encephalopathy such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, birth, or labor. Injuries can include issues like Erb's syndrome that occurs when the nerves that energize and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or ruptured during birth and the caput succedaneum is a swelling of the scalp. Both can result in a permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer (https://trademarketclassifieds.com/) could be able to assist parents identify the cause of a child's birth injury or defect. Many birth defects are caused by the genetics of the baby or other factors during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. A number of commonly used medications have a significant effect on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of a pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most frequently used. These medications have been proven to increase the risk of limb and heart defects, brain deformities, and craniosynostois.

The duty of a doctor is to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, then they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharma companies may also be held responsible for not properly informing mothers of the risks associated with their medications. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of major congenital problems in the first trimester of a pregnancy.

A birth defect lawyer can assist a family receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses associated with the disability or injury, and also loss of earnings and quality of life. This can include hospital, doctor's pharmaceutical, and other costs, as well as assistive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

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

Some of the exposures to chemicals that lead to birth defects include the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are called teratogens because they affect the development of the fetus by causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function, or can cause organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals are present in a variety of settings including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects include the aliphatic hydrocarbons like dichloroethane and trichloroethylene perchloroethylene. These chemicals have been found to cause birth problems, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers exposed to them while in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements on behalf families whose children were born with severe defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family believes that the birth defect of their child may be due to medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should contact an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.

If pregnant women ingest or absorb pollutants from the environment and then develop birth defects. These chemicals are called Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals are dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water, and cadmium from coal that is contaminated may cause numerous birth defects and health problems. Certain birth defects are also linked to industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors, silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a variety of birth defects caused by wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at work or at home. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.