15 Undeniable Reasons To Love Birth Defect Litigation
Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child is born with a birth defect it can be devastating for your family and you. The cost of therapy, medical bills and other expenses can quickly become a burden.
A Hyattsville lawyer with a specialization in birth defects could help you claim compensation for the cost of taking care of your disabled children. Legal claims for birth defects are complex and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice as soon as you can.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals are required to adhere to a set of standards when treating pregnant women or their babies. A doctor could be held liable for damages if their actions result in birth defect law firm defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has expertise in lawsuits involving birth defects can assist you in determining whether your child's health issue was caused by a medical mistake during the pregnancy or delivery.
A doctor may be liable for an injury to the fetus if they fail in diagnosing or adequately respond to distress in the fetus. This can result in numerous serious issues, including hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and birth defect attorneys hypoxic encephalopathy such as cerebral palsy.
Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that they are caused by events during pregnancy, delivery or labor. Injuries can include conditions such as Erb's palsy, which occurs when the nerves that stimulate and control the arms of a newborn are stretched or torn during the birth process, and caput succedaneum, a swelling of the scalp. Both of these could lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, which can result in hefty medical costs. A Washington, DC birth defect lawsuits defect lawyer will provide a no-cost initial consultation to examine your situation and determine the best way to proceed for you and your child.
Prescription Drugs
A birth defect lawyer may be able to assist parents in determining the root of a child's birth defect. Many birth defects are caused by genes or other factors that occur during pregnancy. However, certain medications can also cause birth defects. Certain common medications can have negative effects on foetuses. This is particularly true in the first three months of pregnancy. These include anti-nausea drugs, NSAIDs, chemotherapy drugs including certain antibiotics, and more. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of limb and brain deformities, heart defects and craniosynostois.
A doctor's duty is to take into account the risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors do not meet the requirements of this standard of care, they could be held accountable for medical negligence. Pharmaceutical companies could be held liable as well for not adequately warning mothers of the risks associated with their medications. For instance, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been shown to significantly increase the risk of serious congenital defects during the first trimester of a pregnancy.
A birth defect lawyer can assist a family receive compensation for current and future medical expenses resulting from the injury or disability, and also loss of income and quality of life. This could include hospital costs as well as doctor's fees, pharmaceutical costs and other costs, as well as assistive devices and therapy.
Chemical Exposure
A birth defect lawyer can file an action on behalf of 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 determine the cause of birth defects so they can bring a lawsuit against companies who expose pregnant women to teratogens either at workplace or at home.
Some of the chemical exposures that lead to birth defects are the use of fungicides and metals as well as herbicides and other pesticides. They are referred to as teratogens due to their impact on the healthy development of the fetus through creating chemical changes that hinder normal cell function, or can cause organs to be malformed. These chemicals can be present in a variety settings, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.
Other harmful chemicals that could cause birth defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and dichloroethane. These chemicals have been known to cause birth defects, such as cardiac defects in babies born to mothers who were exposed to them during the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits in order to make companies accountable for the families of soldiers in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina exposed to harmful chemicals. Some of these birth defect lawyers have secured significant settlements for families who had their children born with severe birth defects because of exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.
Environmental Exposure
Some birth defects can be caused by a combination of medical negligence and environmental factors. If a family is concerned that the birth defect of their child could be due to medical malpractice, prescription drug overdose or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should contact a DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the situation.
If pregnant women consume or absorb contaminants from the environment They could cause serious birth defects. These chemicals are referred to as Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals exist in our food, air and water and some could be harmful if they come into contact with a woman who is pregnant.
Arsenic found in drinking water or cadmium in contaminated coal for instance, can cause birth defects as well as other health issues. Certain birth defects are related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser), toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers also increase the risk of birth defects in women. These chemicals are used in the production of semiconductors as well as silicon chip displays and video displays.
LK's experienced birth defect attorneys have brought numerous lawsuits on behalf of children who suffer from a variety of birth defects resulting from unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals and chemicals at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits often involve complicated scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine specialists and embryologists.