20 Fun Facts About Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth this can be devastating for you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other expenses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville lawyer that specializes in birth defects may be able to help to file a claim for compensation to cover the costs of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, so you should consult a lawyer as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a set of standards when treating pregnant women or their babies. Doctors can be held responsible for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine whether your child's health condition may have been caused by a medical error during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor may also be the cause of an injury that occurs during birth if they fail to recognize or adequately respond to distress of the fetus. This could lead to a variety of serious issues, including hypoxic ischemic brain injury (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. These injuries can be caused by conditions such as 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 of these can lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in hefty medical costs. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to examine your case and determine the most appropriate way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

An attorney for birth defects may be able help parents determine the reason behind the birth injury of a child. Many birth defects result from genetics or factors during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. Many common medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is particularly true in the first three months of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication and NSAIDs as well as chemotherapy medications such as certain antibiotics and more. These drugs have been proven to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostosis.

The duty of a doctor is to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care, they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers of the dangers associated with their medications. For instance, 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 families get compensation for current and future medical expenses that result from the disability or injury, as well as loss of earnings and quality of life. This can include hospital, doctor's, pharmaceutical, and other costs, as well as assistive devices and therapies.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities because of the negligence of companies which expose pregnant women and medications that cause birth deformities. They are trained to determine the cause of birth defects, so that they can bring a suit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects include metals, fungicides, herbicides and other pesticides. They are referred to as Teratogens as they interfere with the growth of the fetus causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function or create organs to be malformed. These chemicals are found in many different environments, including the manufacturing of semiconductors and cleaning of metals.

Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been found to cause birth defects, such as cardiac defects, in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them while in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements on behalf of 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 of medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family is concerned that the birth defect of their child may result from medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should talk to an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.

If pregnant women inhale or absorb contaminants from their environment, they can cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the name for these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our air, food and water. Certain of these chemicals can be dangerous to pregnant women.

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

Our experienced attorneys for birth defect attorneys defects have filed many lawsuits in behalf of children suffering from various birth defects due to wrongful toxic or chemical exposure at their workplace or home. These lawsuits usually involve a complex scientific analysis and experts, such as toxicologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.