Birth Defect Litigation: A Simple Definition

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

If your child is born with a birth defect, it can cause a lot of grief for you and your entire family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly increase.

A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer could assist you in filing a claim to recover compensation for the expenses of taking care of your disabled child. A legal claim for birth defects could be complex, so you should seek legal advice whenever you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals are required to follow a standard when treating pregnant women or their infants. A doctor can be held accountable for any damages when their actions cause birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who is experienced in lawsuits for birth defect law firm defects can help you determine if your child's illness could be due to a medical error during pregnancy or during delivery.

A doctor could also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail detect fetal distress or don't respond appropriately. This can lead to a range of serious problems, including hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIE) and brain injuries such as cerebral palsy.

The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are part of a person's genetic make-up, while injuries are caused due to something happening during pregnancy, labor, or the birth. Injury can include Erb's Palsy where the nerves that control the infant's arms and legs are stretched or torn. Another form of injury is called caput succedaneum. It's swelling of the scalp. Both of these could lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in large medical bills. A Washington, DC lawyer who is specialized in birth defects will provide a free consultation to look over your case and determine the most appropriate course for you and your baby.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer may be able to help parents determine the root of a child's birth defect. Many birth defects result from genes or other factors that occur during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. A variety of common medications can have a significant effect on fetuses especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. Anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, and chemotherapy drugs are among the most common. These drugs have been linked to an increase in risk of limb deformities and brain defects, heart defects and craniosynostois.

It is a doctor's professional duty to consider these risks when prescribing medications for women who are pregnant. If doctors fail to follow this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for malpractice. Pharmaceutical companies can be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers of the risks associated with their products. Zofran is a medication that is used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been found to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancy.

An attorney who specializes in birth defects can assist families in getting compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of living. This could include hospital, doctor's, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well as 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 determine the reason for birth defects, so that they can file a lawsuit against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at work or at home.

Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are some of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are known as teratogens due to their impact on the healthy development of the fetus creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function, or can cause organs that are not properly formed. These chemicals are found in a variety of settings including manufacturing of semiconductors, cleaning of metals and paint production.

Other chemicals that may cause birth defects include hydrocarbons with aliphatic properties, firms like dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, or perchloroethylene. These chemicals have been found to cause birth problems, including cardiac disorders, in babies born to mothers exposed to them during the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against a variety of firms that were responsible for the exposure of families of soldiers at Camp Lejeune to these harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families who have children who were born with severe birth defects due to the toxic chemical exposures on 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 that the birth defects of a baby could be the result of medical negligence, prescription drug overdose, or exposure to harmful chemical, they should consult an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss their case.

If pregnant women inhale or absorb contaminants from their environment and then develop birth defects. Teratogens are the name for these chemicals. More than 4 million chemicals can be found in our food, air and water. Some of these chemicals could be dangerous to pregnant women.

For example, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium in coal that is contaminated may cause various birth defects, as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects are linked to industrial solvents like benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and firms trichloroethylene. Glycol ethers that are used in the manufacture of silicon chips, semiconductors and video displays, are recognized to increase a woman's risk of developing birth defects.

LK's skilled birth defect attorneys have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a wide range of birth defects due to the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits usually involve a an extensive scientific analysis as well as expert witnesses, such as toxicologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.