Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child was born with a birth defect, it can be devastating for you and your family. Therapy costs, medical bills and other losses can quickly mount up.
A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing claim for compensation for the cost of caring for your disabled child. 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 follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held accountable for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine if your child’s health condition may be the result of an error in medical care during pregnancy or the birth.
A doctor could also be the cause of a birth injury when they fail to recognize or properly respond to fetal distress. This can result in a variety of serious issues, such as hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.
The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person’s genetic make-up and injuries are caused by an event that occurs during labor, pregnancy, or birth. The causes of injuries include issues like Erb’s syndrome that occurs when the nerves that power and control the infant’s arms are stretched or ruptured during birth and the caput succedaneum is an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of these conditions can result in permanent disability and Birth Defect Attorneys require ongoing treatment, resulting in hefty medical costs. A Washington, DC lawyer who is skilled in birth defects can offer a free consultation to analyze your case and determine the best course of action for you and your baby.
Prescription Drugs
A birth defect lawyer could be able to assist parents determine the cause of the birth injury or defect. While many birth defects are the result of genetics and the factors that influence the mother’s pregnancy however, they can also be caused due to medications. Many common medications have a significant impact on fetuses especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications as well as certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been linked with an increased risk of limb defects and heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.
A doctor’s responsibility is to consider these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers about the risks associated with their drugs. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of major congenital defects in first trimester pregnancies.
A birth defect attorney can assist families in getting compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital costs as well as doctor’s fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, as well assistive devices and therapy.
Chemical Exposure
A birth defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of companies which expose pregnant women to chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to find out the root of the birth defect to sue companies who expose mothers to teratogens when they are working or in their home.
Some of the exposures to chemicals that lead to birth defects include metals, fungicides, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens due to the fact that they affect the healthy development a embryo through chemical changes that cause abnormal organs, or disrupt normal cell function. These chemicals are used in a variety of locations, such as metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.
Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are hydrocarbons with aliphatic properties, like dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, or perchloroethylene. These chemicals are known to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers who were exposed during their time in the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits in order to ensure that companies are held accountable for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families who had children born with severe defects resulting from the toxic chemical exposures on the base.
Environmental Exposure
Some birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence as well as environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family believes the birth defect of their child could result from medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should contact an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.
If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the environment, they can cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the names given to these substances. Over 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water and a few are harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.
Arsenic from drinking water or cadmium in coal that has been contaminated for instance, may cause birth defect attorneys defects as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects are also caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the chance of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors display panels, birth defect attorneys silicon chip displays, and video displays.
LK’s skilled birth defect attorneys have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a range of birth defects as a result of wrongful toxic and chemical exposure at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits are based on complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.