Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child is born with a birth deformity, it can be devastating for your family and you. Medical bills, therapy costs and other losses can quickly increase.
A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could help you file claim for compensation for the costs of taking care of your child with disabilities. Legal claims for birth defects are complex, so it is important to seek legal advice immediately.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals must adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their babies. Doctors can be held responsible for damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits will help you determine whether your child’s health issue was caused by a medical mistake during the pregnancy or delivery.
A doctor may also be responsible for birth injuries if they fail in diagnosing or respond adequately to distress of the fetus.
Birth injuries differ from birth defects because they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery, or labor. Injuries can result from ailments like Erb’s palsy, which occurs when the nerves that power and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or ruptured during birth and caput succedaneum, a swelling of the scalp. Both of these could result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in large medical bills. A Washington, Birth defect lawyers DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to examine your case and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.
Prescription Drugs
A birth defect attorney may help parents determine the root cause of an infant’s birth injury. Many birth defects result from genetics or factors during pregnancy. However, medications can also cause birth defects. Certain common medications have a profound effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of a pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs, certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of limb and heart defects, brain deformities, and craniosynostosis.
It is the responsibility of a doctor to take into consideration the potential risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors do not adhere to this standard of care, they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for failing to adequately warn mothers of the dangers associated with their drugs. 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 attorney can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, income loss and quality of living. This could include hospital, doctor’s pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well aidive devices and treatments.
Chemical Exposure
A birth defect lawyer may bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children with congenital disabilities resulting from the negligence of companies who expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. They are trained to find out the root of the birth defect in order to sue companies that expose mothers to teratogens while they work or in their home.
Some of the exposures to chemicals that lead to birth defects are the fungicides, metals, herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are referred to as Teratogens since they interfere with the growth of the fetus causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function or create organs that are malformed. These chemicals are used in various settings, including manufacturing of semiconductors, metal cleaning and paint production.
Other dangerous chemicals that may cause birth defects include aliphatic cyaninated hydrocarbons such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene or dichloroethane. These chemicals are known to cause cardiac birth defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed while they were in the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits in order to ensure that companies are held accountable for exposing families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to harmful chemicals. Some of the birth defect lawyers, please click the following webpage, have won significant settlements on behalf of families who had their children born with severe defects as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.
Environmental Exposure
Certain birth defects can be caused by an unintended medical error and environmental factors or Birth defect lawyers chemicals. If a family suspects that the birth defect in their child could be a result of medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to toxic chemicals, they should contact a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the issue.
If pregnant women ingest or absorb pollutants from the environment, they can cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the term used to describe these substances. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals can be dangerous to pregnant women.
For example, arsenic in drinking water, and cadmium from coal that is contaminated can cause various birth defect law firm defects as well as other health issues. Industrial solvents, such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also associated with certain birth defects. Glycol ethers, which are used in the manufacture of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays are known to increase a woman’s risk of developing birth defects.
The experienced birth defect attorneys at LK have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a myriad of birth defects caused by improper exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or in their homes. These lawsuits typically involve complex scientific analysis and experts, such as toxicologists or epidemiologists, geneticists occupational medicine experts and embryologists.