10 Things Your Competitors Lean You On Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect, it can cause a huge impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other losses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can assist you in filing a claim to recover compensation for the expenses of taking care of your child with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects can be complicated, so you should seek legal counsel whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held liable for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defect lawsuits will help you determine if your child's illness could have been caused by an error made by a doctor during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may be liable for an injury to the fetus if they fail to recognize or respond adequately to distress in the fetus. This can lead to various serious problems, including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and hypoxic encephalopathy like cerebral palsy.

The distinction between a birth defect and a birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic makeup and injuries are triggered by an event that occurs during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. A possible injury is Erb's spalsy where the nerves that control the baby's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is caput succedaneum - an inflammation of the scalp. Both can lead to a permanent disability and ongoing treatment will cost lots of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who is an expert in birth defects may offer a free consultation to review your case, and determine the best course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may be able to assist parents in determining the root of a child's birth defect. While many birth defects are due to the genetics of the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur because of medications. Many common medications have a profound effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of a pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs including certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been linked with an increased risk of deformities in the limbs and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

A doctor's duty is to consider these risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. When doctors fail to meet this standard of care, they could be liable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers about the risks associated with their medications. Zofran is a medication used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was shown to increase the risk of major defects in the first trimester pregnancy.

An attorney who specializes in birth defects can assist a family in obtaining compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of living. This can include hospital, doctor's, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well as aidive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf of the families of children suffering from congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of businesses which expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to discover the root of the birth defect, so they can bring a lawsuit against the companies who expose mothers to teratogens as they are at work or in their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects are the use of fungicides and metals as well as herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens due to their impact on the healthy development of the fetus by producing chemical changes that block normal cell function or cause organs to be malformed. These chemicals can be found in a variety of settings including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons with aliphatic chlorinated chemistry such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause heart defects in babies born to mothers exposed during their time in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against several firms that were responsible for exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families whose children were born with serious defects as a result of the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.

Environmental Exposure

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

If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from their environment they could develop serious birth defects. These substances are known as teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals may be harmful to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic in drinking water, and cadmium from contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects and health issues. Certain birth defects can also be linked to industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers are also known for their ability to increase the chance of birth Defect lawsuit defects in women. These chemicals are used for the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chip displays and video displays.

The experienced birth defect attorneys at LK have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a wide range of birth defects caused by wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at work or at home. These lawsuits involve complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.