Birth Defect Litigation: The Evolution Of Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth, it can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other expenses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can assist you in filing an action to collect compensation for the costs of taking care of your disabled child. A legal claim for birth defects can be complex, so you should consult a lawyer immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. A doctor could be held accountable for any damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits for birth defects can help you determine whether your child's condition could be due to an error made by the medical professional during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may also be held accountable for birth injuries if they fail diagnose fetal distress or fail to respond appropriately. This can result in a variety of serious issues, such as hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, birth, or labor. The most common injuries are Erb's Palsy which occurs when the nerves that control the baby's arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is the caput succedaneum, a swelling on the scalp. Both of these could cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in hefty medical costs. A Washington, DC lawyer who is skilled in birth defects can provide a free consultation to look over your case and determine the most appropriate course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may be able to help parents determine the root cause of the birth injury of a child. While many birth defects are the result of genetics and other factors that occur during the mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused as a result of medication. Certain common medications can have a negative impact on foetuses. This is especially true in the first three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications including certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the responsibility of a doctor to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held accountable for not adequately informing mothers about the risks associated with their products. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in first trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect attorney can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, income loss and the quality of life. This could include hospital costs as well as doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses in addition to assistive devices, and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit for families of children with congenital disabilities as a result from the negligence of companies that expose pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to identify what caused the birth defect to file a lawsuit against companies who expose mothers to teratogens as they are working or in their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects include the use of fungicides and metals as well as herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are called Teratogens because they affect the healthy development a fetus through chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs or hinder normal cell function. These chemicals are used in a variety of locations, such as semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed while they were in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have obtained significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by the combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a baby could be due to medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemical, they should consult an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

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

Arsenic found in drinking water or cadmium from coal that is contaminated for instance, can cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects are caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers, which are used in the production of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays, are well-known to increase the risk of birth defects too.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a variety of birth defects due to the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at work or in their homes. These lawsuits often involve an extensive scientific analysis as well as experts as witnesses, like toxicologists and epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.