Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth deformity it can be devastating for your family as well as you. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly accumulate.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing an action to collect compensation for the costs of caring for your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are complex and it is essential to seek legal advice immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can 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 condition could be due to an error made by a doctor during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor could also be responsible for a birth injury when they fail to recognize or respond adequately to distress of the fetus. This can lead to a range of serious complications, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy.

Birth Defect Lawsuit injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. Injury can include Erb's Palsy, where the nerves controlling the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another injury is caput succedaneum - an inflammation of the scalp. Both can result in permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost a great deal of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to assist parents in determining the root of the birth injury of a child. While many birth defect attorneys defects are due to genetics and other factors that occur during the pregnancy of a mother however, they may also occur as a result of medication. A variety of common medications can have a significant impact on fetuses, particularly in the first trimester of a pregnancy. Anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most frequently used. These medications have been linked to an increased risk of limb deformities and heart defects, brain deformities and craniosynostois.

A doctor's job is to take into account the risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. When doctors fail to meet this standard of care they could be held liable for medical negligence. Pharma companies could also be held accountable for not properly informing mothers of the risks associated with their medication. Zofran, which is used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to increase the risk of major defects in first-trimester pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families get compensation for current and future medical expenses that result from the disability or injury in addition to loss of earnings and the quality of life. This could include hospital costs physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer could bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who have congenital disabilities as a result due to the negligence of corporations who expose pregnant women to chemicals and drugs that cause birth deformities. They are trained to determine the reason for the birth defects so that they can bring a case against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at workplace or at home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are among the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as teratogens due to the fact that they interfere with the normal development of a foetus by causing chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs, or disrupt normal cell function. These chemicals are found in many different settings, including semiconductor manufacturing, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other chemicals that can cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethylene perchloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects in the heart in babies born to mothers exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to ensure that companies are held accountable for the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects resulting from the exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family suspects that a child's birth defects may be due to medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemicals or chemical substances, they should speak with an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other pollutants in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are consumed by or absorbed by pregnant women. These substances are known as Teratogens. Over 4 million chemicals exist in our food, air and water and a few can be harmful when they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium in coal that has been contaminated for instance, could cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects can also be related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers, used in the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are known to increase a woman's chances of having birth defects as well.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed many lawsuits on the name of children who suffered from various birth defects due to an unintentional exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits typically require complex scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.