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Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth deformity, it can cause a lot of grief for your family and you. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly mount up.

A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects could assist you seek compensation for the cost of caring for your children with disabilities. A legal claim for birth defects could be complicated, which is why you should consult a lawyer whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard of care when treating pregnant women and their babies. If a doctor's actions fall below this standard and cause birth defects or injuries and/or death, they may be held responsible for damage suffered by their patient. A DC lawyer with experience in lawsuits involving birth defects will help you determine if your child's condition may have been caused by a medical error during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor may also be responsible for a birth injury when they fail to recognize or adequately respond to fetal distress. This can result in many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic neuropathy and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The distinction between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic makeup and injuries are triggered by an event that occurs during labor, pregnancy, or during delivery. The causes of injuries include conditions such as Erb's palsy which is caused when the nerves that power and control the arms of an infant are stretched or torn during birth and caput succedaneum, an increase in the size of the scalp. Both can result in a permanent disability, and ongoing treatment can cost a significant amount of money. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes 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 help parents determine the cause for an infant's birth injury. While many birth defects are the result of genetics and factors during the mother's pregnancy but they can also happen as a result of medications. Certain commonly used medications can have negative effects on fetuses. This is particularly evident in the initial three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medication, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most commonly used. These drugs have been shown to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is the professional responsibility of doctors to consider these risks when prescribing medicines for pregnant women. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, then they may be held liable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for not properly warning mothers of the dangers associated with their medications. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been proven to significantly increase the risk of major congenital problems in first trimester pregnancies.

An attorney for birth defects can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, income loss and the quality of life. This could include hospital expenses physician's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other expenses along with assistive devices and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

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

Some of the chemical exposures that can lead to birth defects include herbicides, fungicides, metals and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as Teratogens as they interfere with the development of the fetus through making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or create organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in a variety of settings including semiconductor manufacturing, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals are known to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits in order to make companies accountable for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families whose children were born with severe birth defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Certain birth defects are caused by a combination of medical negligence as well as environmental conditions or chemicals. If a family suspects a child's birth defects may be due to medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemicals such as benzene, they should seek out an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other contaminants in the environment can cause serious birth defects if they are ingested or absorbed by pregnant women. These substances are referred to as Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals could be dangerous to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water, and cadmium from coal that has been contaminated can trigger a variety of birth defects and other health issues. Industrial solvents like trichloroethylene, benzene, and toluene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers can increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to make semiconductors, silicon chip displays and video displays.

LK's highly experienced birth defect lawyers have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a range of birth defects caused by improper exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits typically involve sophisticated scientific analysis and experts as witnesses, like toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts and embryologists.