10 Things Your Competitors Teach You About Birth Defect Litigation

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth defect lawsuit this can have a devastating effect on you and your family. Medical bills, therapy expenses and other losses can add up quickly.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing a claim to recover reimbursement for the costs of taking care of your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects can be a little tangled and it is essential to seek legal advice as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held responsible for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has expertise in lawsuits for birth defects can help determine whether your child’s condition was caused by a medical mistake during pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor may also be held responsible for birth injuries if they fail recognize fetal distress and fail to respond appropriately. This can result in a variety of serious problems, including hypoxic ischemic disorder (HIE) and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, birth, or labor. Injuries can be caused by Erb’s palsy where the nerves that control the baby’s arms and limbs are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is the caput succedaneum, an inflammation of the scalp. Both of these could result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical expenses. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to analyze your case and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer might be able to assist parents determine the cause of a child’s birth injury, or defect. Many birth defects result from genes or other factors that occur during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. Many common medications can have a negative impact on fetuses. This is particularly applicable in the early months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medication, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most frequently used. These drugs have been linked to an increased chance of limb deformities, heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostosis.

A doctor’s duty is to be aware of these risks when prescribing medication for women who are pregnant. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, they could be held accountable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for not adequately warning mothers of the dangers that come with their products. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during the first trimester of pregnancies.

A birth defect lawyer can assist families get reimbursement for future and ongoing medical expenses related to the disability or injury, and also loss of earnings and the quality of life. This can include hospital costs as well as doctor’s fees, pharmaceutical costs, and other expenses, in addition to assistive devices, and therapy.

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect lawyer can file an action on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of companies who expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially trained to identify the cause of birth defects so they can bring a case against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or in their home.

Some of the chemical exposures that can lead to birth defects include the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are known as teratogens because they affect the healthy development of the fetus by making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or lead to organs to be malformed. These chemicals are used in various settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.

Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic hydrocarbons with aliphatic chlorinated chemistry such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been proven to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers have obtained substantial settlements on behalf of families whose children were born with severe defects because of the toxic chemical exposures at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects could be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family suspects the birth defects of a baby could be the result of medical negligence or prescription drug overdose or birth defect lawyer exposure to harmful chemical, they should consult a DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause serious birth defects when they are consumed or taken in by pregnant women. These substances are known as Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals are harmful to pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium in coal that has been contaminated can trigger a variety of birth defects and other health problems. Industrial solvents such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the chance of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used to manufacture semiconductors display panels, silicon chip displays, and video displays.

LK’s highly experienced birth defect lawyers have filed a variety of lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a wide range of birth defects resulting from the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits involve complex scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.