The Birth Defect Litigation Case Study You ll Never Forget

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with a birth defect it could be devastating for your family and you. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could help you file a claim to recover compensation for the costs of caring for your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are complex and therefore it is crucial to seek legal advice immediately.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to an appropriate standard of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. Doctors can be held liable for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can assist you in determining whether your child's condition may be the result of an error made by a doctor during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail diagnose fetal distress or do not respond appropriately. This can cause various serious problems, including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and hypoxic encephalopathy such as cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by events during pregnancy, Birth defect attorney delivery or labor. Injury can include Erb's Palsy which occurs when the nerves that control the infant's arms and legs are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is the caput succedaneum, an inflammation of the scalp. Both can lead to a permanent disability, and continued treatment will cost a lot of money. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can offer a no-cost initial consultation to review your case and determine the best option for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect attorney may be able to help parents determine the reason behind a child's birth injury. Many birth defects are caused by birth defects or genetics. However, medications can also cause birth defects. A number of common medications can have negative effects on fetuses. This is especially true in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medicines, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most common. These drugs have been linked to an increased risk of limb deformities and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostosis.

It is a doctor's professional duty to consider these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. If doctors fail to adhere to this standard of care, they may be held liable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for failing to adequately warn mothers of the risks associated with their medications. For instance, 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 the first trimester of pregnancies.

A birth defect attorney can assist a family in obtaining compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of living. This can include hospital costs medical expenses, doctor's fees and pharmaceutical costs and other costs, as well assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can sue parents of children with congenital disabilities as a result of the negligence of companies exposing pregnant women to chemicals and other drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to find out what caused the birth defect to file a lawsuit against companies that expose mothers to teratogens when they work or in their homes.

Metals, fungicides herbicides and pesticides are a few chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens due to their impact on the healthy growth of the fetus causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function or create organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals can be found in many different settings, including semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that may 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 in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against a variety of companies that were involved in exposing the families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have obtained substantial settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with serious defects as a result of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions. If a family believes the birth defect of their child could be due to medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should talk to a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.

If pregnant women consume or absorb pollutants from the environment they could develop serious birth defects. Teratogens are the term used to describe these substances. More than 4 million chemicals are present in our food, air and water, and some of them could be harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

Arsenic in drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal for instance, may cause birth defects and other health issues. Industrial solvents, such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers can increase the likelihood of birth defects occurring in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors display panels, silicon chip displays, and video displays.

LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought many lawsuits on behalf of children who have suffered from a wide range of birth defects due to the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at work or in their homes. These lawsuits typically require an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, such as toxicologists as well as epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.