Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth defect attorney this can have a devastating effect on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly become a burden.
A Hyattsville lawyer that specializes in birth defects could help you claim compensation for the costs of caring for your children with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are complex and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice as soon as you can.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals must follow an appropriate standard of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. A doctor could be held responsible for damages if their actions result in birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has expertise in lawsuits for birth defects will help you determine if your child’s condition was caused by a medical error during pregnancy or delivery.
A doctor could be liable for an injury to the fetus if they fail to recognize or properly respond to distress of the fetus. This can cause many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.
The distinction between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person’s genetic make-up however, injuries are caused by an event that occurs during labor, pregnancy, or birth. The causes of injuries include conditions like Erb’s Palsy which develops when the nerves which energize and control an infant’s arms are stretched or torn during the birth process, and caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of them can result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in hefty medical costs. A Washington, DC lawyer who is skilled in birth defects can provide a no-cost consultation to examine your case and determine the best course for you and your baby.
Prescription Drugs
An attorney for birth defects may be able to assist parents in determining the reason behind a child’s birth defect. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and the factors that influence the pregnancy of a mother but they can also happen because of medications. A variety of commonly used medications can have a negative impact on the fetuses. This is especially applicable in the early months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most common. These drugs have been linked to an increase in chance of limb deformities, heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.
The duty of a doctor is to consider the risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. When doctors fail to meet the requirements of this standard of care, they could be held liable for medical malpractice. Pharma companies may also be held accountable for not properly inform mothers of the risks of their medication. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of major congenital problems in the first trimester of a pregnancy.
A birth defect lawyer can help families get reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses related to the injury or disability, as well as loss of earnings and quality of life. This could include hospital, doctor’s, pharmaceutical, and other costs, as well as assistive devices and treatments.
Chemical Exposure
A birth defect lawyer may file a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities because of the negligence of businesses which expose pregnant women and drugs that can cause birth deformities. These lawyers are specially trained to determine the cause of the birth defects so that they can bring a suit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at work or at home.
Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are just a few of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called Teratogens because they influence the healthy development of a foetus by causing chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs or block normal cell function. These chemicals can be found in a variety of environments, including metal cleaning and semiconductor manufacturing.
Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been shown to cause birth defects, such as cardiac defects in babies born to mothers exposed to them in the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits against various companies who were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have won significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe birth defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.
Environmental Exposure
Some birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors or chemicals. If a family suspects a child’s birth defects may be due to medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should consult a DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.
If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the environment They could cause serious birth defects. These chemicals are called 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.
For example, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium in contaminated coal can cause a variety of birth defects as well as other health problems. Industrial solvents, such as benzene, toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also linked with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers are also known for their ability to increase the likelihood of birth defects occurring in women. These chemicals are used for the manufacture of semiconductors display panels, silicon chip displays, and video displays.
LK’s experienced birth defect attorneys have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who suffered from a wide range of birth defects due to unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at work or at home. These lawsuits involve complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.