Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child was born with a birth defect this can have a devastating impact on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly increase.
A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects can help you seek reimbursement for the expenses of taking care of your disabled children. A legal claim for birth defects can be complicated, so you should consult a lawyer whenever you can.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals are required to adhere to a set of standards when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor could be held responsible for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who is experienced in birth defect lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child’s illness could be the result of an error in medical care during pregnancy or delivery.
A doctor can also be held responsible for birth injuries if they fail identify fetal distress, or are unable to respond in a timely manner. This could lead to a number serious problems including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and hypoxic encephalopathy such as cerebral palsy.
Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by events during pregnancy, birth, or labor. Injuries can include issues like Erb’s syndrome which is caused 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 result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in significant medical bills. A Washington, DC lawyer who is an expert in birth defects may provide a free consultation to examine your case and determine the most appropriate course for you and your baby.
Prescription Drugs
A birth Defect attorney — http://Www.wonkhouse.co.kr — may help parents determine the reason behind the birth injury of a child. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and factors during the mother’s pregnancy but they can also happen because of medications. Certain common medications can have negative effects on the fetuses. This is particularly evident in the initial three months of pregnancy. This includes anti-nausea medication and NSAIDs as well as chemotherapy medications including certain antibiotics, and many more. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of developing limb and heart defects, brain deformities, and craniosynostosis.
It is the responsibility of a doctor to take into consideration the risks when prescribing medication for pregnant women. If doctors do not meet this standard of care, they could be held accountable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for not adequately informing mothers about the risks associated with their products. For example, 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 help a family get compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of living. This could include hospital expenses, doctor’s fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, in addition to assistive devices, and therapy.
Chemical Exposure
A birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit for families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities because of the negligence of companies that expose pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that can cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to find out the reason for the birth defect so that they can bring a lawsuit against companies that expose mothers to teratogens as they work or at their homes.
Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects are metals, fungicides, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are called Teratogens since they interfere with the growth of the fetus making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or lead to malformed organs. These chemicals are present in various settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.
Other hazardous chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals are known to cause heart defects in babies born to mothers exposed while they were in the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits in order to ensure that companies are held accountable for the families of soldiers who live at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have obtained substantial settlements on behalf families whose children were born with severe defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.
Environmental Exposure
Some birth defects can be caused by a combination between medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family suspects the birth defects of a baby could be the result of medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should consult a DC birth injury lawyer 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. Over 4 million chemicals are present in our food, air and water Some of them could be harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.
For instance, arsenic in drinking water, and cadmium from coal that has been contaminated can trigger various birth defects and other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be associated with industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers, which are used in the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are well-known to increase the chance of having birth defects too.
LK’s experienced birth defect attorneys have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a variety of birth defects due to unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits typically require complicated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts and embryologists.