What s The Point Of Nobody Caring About 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 effect on your family as well as you. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other losses can quickly accumulate.
A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can assist you in filing an action to collect reimbursement for the costs of taking care of your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and therefore it is crucial to seek legal advice as soon as you can.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals must follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. If a doctor's actions do not meet the standards and result in birth defect or injury or injury, they could be held liable for the damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer who is experienced in birth defect lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child's condition may have been caused by an error in medical care during pregnancy or delivery.
A doctor can also be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail to identify fetal distress, or fail to respond appropriately. This can cause a number of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.
Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. Injuries can include ailments like Erb's palsy, which occurs when the nerves that power and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or damaged during birth, and caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both can result in lifelong disability, and ongoing treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best method of action for you and your child.
Prescription Drugs
A birth defect lawyer may be able to assist parents determine the reason for the child's birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are the result of the genetics of the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur as a result of medications. Certain commonly used medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is especially applicable in the early months of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication such as NSAIDs, chemotherapy medicines including certain antibiotics, and many more. These medications have been linked to an increase in chance of limb deformities, brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.
It is a doctor's professional duty to be aware of these risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors do not meet the requirements of this standard of care, they could be held accountable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for not adequately warning mothers of the risks associated with their products. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to significantly increase the risk of major congenital problems in the first trimester of pregnancies.
An attorney who specializes in birth defects can help a family get compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of living. This could include hospital costs medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, as well as assistive devices and therapy.
Chemical Exposure
A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities as a result of the negligence of companies exposing pregnant women to chemicals and medications that cause birth deformities. They are trained to determine the cause of the birth defects so that they can file a lawsuit against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.
Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects are the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as Teratogens since they affect the healthy development a the fetus via chemical changes that cause abnormal organs or hinder normal cell function. These chemicals can be found in a variety of settings, including semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.
Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons with aliphatic chlorinated chemistry such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been known to cause Birth Defect Lawsuit problems, including cardiac defects, in babies born to mothers exposed to them during the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits in order to expose companies to liability for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have gotten significant settlements for families whose children were born with severe birth defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.
Environmental Exposure
Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors or chemicals. If a family believes that the birth defect of their child could be a result of medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should contact a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.
Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are consumed or taken in by pregnant women. Teratogens are the term used to describe these substances. Over 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water and some are harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.
Arsenic from drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal for instance, could cause birth defects and other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be associated with industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, used in the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are well-known to increase the risk of birth defects.
LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a wide range of birth defects caused by unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.