Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child was born with a birth defect this can have a devastating effect on your family and you. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other expenses can quickly mount up.
A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing a claim to recover compensation for the expenses of taking care of your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are complex, so it is important to seek legal advice as soon as you can.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals must follow the highest standards of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. A doctor can be held accountable for any damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defects lawsuits can help determine the cause of your child’s illness. caused by a medical error during pregnancy or the birth.
A doctor could also be responsible for birth injuries if they fail to diagnose or respond adequately to distress in the fetus. This can result in a variety of serious issues, such as hypoxic ischemic disorder (HIE) and brain injuries, such as cerebral palsy.
Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery or labor. These injuries can be caused by issues like Erb’s syndrome which develops when the nerves which energize and control an infant’s arms are stretched or damaged during birth and the caput succedaneum is an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of them can cause lifelong disability, and ongoing treatment will cost a great deal of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes in birth defects can provide a free consultation to look over your case and decide on the best course for you and your baby.
Prescription Drugs
A birth defect lawyer might be able to help parents determine the root of a child’s birth injury. While many birth defects are due to genetics and other factors that occur during the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur as a result of medication. Certain common medications can have negative effects on the fetuses. This is especially applicable in the early months of pregnancy. They include anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs, chemotherapy medications, certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of developing limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.
It is the professional responsibility of doctors to be aware of the risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors do not meet this standard of care they may be liable for medical malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for failing to adequately warn mothers about the risks associated with their products. Zofran is a drug used to treat nausea among cancer patients, was shown to increase the risk of major defects in the first trimester pregnancies.
A birth defect lawyer can assist families receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses associated with the disability or injury, and also loss of earnings and quality of life. This could include hospital expenses physician’s fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, in addition to 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 businesses who expose pregnant women to chemicals and medications that cause birth deformities. They are trained to determine the reason for birth defects, so that they can bring a suit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at workplace or at home.
Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as Teratogens as they interfere with the development of the fetus by producing chemical changes that block normal cell function or lead to organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be used in a variety of environments, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.
Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons with aliphatic chlorinated chemistry such as perchloroethylene, lawyers trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects, such as cardiac defects in babies born to mothers exposed to them while in the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits to ensure that companies are held accountable for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have won substantial settlements for families who had children born with severe defects resulting from the exposure to toxic chemicals on the base.
Environmental Exposure
Some birth defects can be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family believes the birth defect of their child may be due to medical negligence, prescription drug overdose or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should talk to a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.
Chemicals and other substances in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are consumed by or taken in by pregnant women. Teratogens are the names given to these substances. Over 4 million chemicals exist in our food, air and water and some are harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.
For instance, arsenic in drinking water as well as cadmium derived from contaminated coal can cause various birth defects and other health issues. Industrial solvents such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and toluene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defect lawyers defects. Glycol-ethers can increase the likelihood of birth defects occurring in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and video displays.
LK’s skilled birth defect attorneys have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a variety of birth defects as a result of unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits usually involve a an extensive scientific analysis as well as experts as witnesses, like toxicologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, embryologists and occupational medicine experts.