Birth Defect Litigation Explained In Fewer Than 140 Characters

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect this can be devastating for you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other expenses can quickly accumulate.

A Hyattsville lawyer who is specialized in birth defects could help you claim compensation for the costs of taking care of your disabled children. A legal claim for birth defects can be complex, so you should seek legal advice immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a set of standards when treating pregnant women or their babies. If a doctor's actions fall below this standard and result in an injury or birth defect, they can be held accountable for injuries suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits; look here, can help you determine whether your child's condition could be due to an error made by the medical professional during pregnancy or the birth.

A doctor could also be accountable for an injury that occurs during birth if they fail to diagnose or properly respond to distress of the fetus. This could lead to a variety of serious issues, such as hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and cerebral palsy.

The distinction between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are triggered by something occurring during labor, pregnancy, or birth. Injuries can result from conditions such as Erb's palsy, which occurs when the nerves that energize and control the infant's arms are stretched or damaged during birth and caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both of these can cause permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in significant medical bills. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to analyze your case and determine the best method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to assist parents in determining the cause for an infant's birth injury. Many birth defects are caused by genes or other factors that occur during pregnancy. However, medications can also cause birth defects. A number of commonly used medications have a profound effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of limb and brain defects, heart defects, and craniosynostois.

It is the responsibility of a doctor to consider these risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, then they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharma companies can also be held accountable for not properly informing mothers about the dangers associated with their medication. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of pregnancies.

A birth defect attorneys defect lawyer can assist family members receive compensation for the future and present medical expenses that result from the disability or injury, as well as loss of earnings and quality of life. This could include doctor's, hospital or pharmaceutical costs, as well as assistive devices and treatments.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf families of children with congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of companies who expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially-trained to determine the cause of birth defects so that they can bring a case against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens at work or at home.

Metals, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens due to the fact that they influence the healthy development of a embryo through chemical changes that lead to abnormal organs, or disrupt normal cell function. These chemicals can be used in a variety of environments, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.

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

Parents have filed lawsuits against various firms that were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defects lawyers have secured substantial settlements for families whose children were born with severe defects resulting from the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemical. If a family suspects that the birth defects of a baby could be due to medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemical and/or environmental factors, they should talk to an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

If pregnant women inhale or absorb contaminants from their environment and then develop birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Some of these chemicals are harmful to pregnant women.

Arsenic found in drinking water or cadmium in coal that has been contaminated for instance, may cause birth defects and other health issues. Certain birth defects are caused by industrial solvents such as benzene (a metal degreaser) as well as toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers also increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors display devices, silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed many lawsuits in the name of children who suffered from many birth defects due to an unintentional exposure to chemicals or toxic substances at work or at home. These lawsuits require complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses such as toxicologists and epidemiologists.