An Birth Defect Litigation Success Story You ll Never Imagine

Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer

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

A Hyattsville lawyer who specializes in birth defects can help to file a claim for compensation to cover the costs of caring for your disabled children. Legal claims for birth defects are complicated and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice as soon as you can.

Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals must adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women and their infants. If a doctor's actions do not meet the standards and result in a birth defect or injury the doctor could be held accountable for the damages sustained by their patient. A DC lawyer with experience in birth defect lawsuits will help you determine whether your child's condition was caused by a medical error during the pregnancy or delivery.

A doctor can also be held liable for birth injuries if they fail to diagnose fetal distress or fail to respond appropriately. This can result in many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy as well as brain injuries like cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in the sense that they are caused by circumstances during pregnancy, birth, or labor. The most common injuries are Erb's Palsy which occurs when the nerves that control the infant's limbs and arms are stretched or torn. Another type of injury is caput succedaneum - an inflammation of the scalp. Both of these could result in permanent disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in large medical bills. A Washington, DC birth defect lawyer can provide a free initial consultation to analyze your case and determine the most appropriate method of action for you and your child.

Prescription Drugs

A birth defect lawyer could be able to help parents determine the reason for a child's birth injury, or defect. While many birth defects are caused by genetics and the factors that influence a mother's pregnancy however, they can also be caused because of medications. A variety of commonly used medications can have negative effects on the fetuses. This is particularly true in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy drugs are among the most commonly used. These medications have been linked to a higher risk of limb defects and heart defects, birth defect lawsuits brain defects and craniosynostois.

It is a doctor's professional duty to consider the potential risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors fail to follow this standard of care, they could be held accountable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for not properly warning mothers of the dangers that come with their products. Zofran, which is used to treat nausea among cancer patients, has been found to increase the risk of major defects during the first trimester pregnancies.

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

Chemical Exposure

A birth defect law firms defect lawyer can file a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who suffer from congenital disabilities that result from the negligence of companies that expose pregnant women chemicals or drugs that cause birth defects. These lawyers are specially-trained to identify the cause of birth defects so that they can bring a case against companies that expose pregnant women to teratogens either at workplace or at home.

Some of the chemical exposures that contribute to birth defects include the use of fungicides and metals as well as herbicides and other pesticides. These chemicals are called teratogens due to their impact on the development of the fetus by making chemical changes that inhibit normal cell function or create organs that are malformed. These chemicals can be found in many different environments, including semiconductor manufacturing and metal cleaning.

Other chemicals that may cause birth defects include hydrocarbons that are aliphatic, such as dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, or perchloroethylene. These chemicals have been proven to cause birth defects, such as cardiac defects in babies born to mothers exposed to them in the womb.

Parents have filed lawsuits against various 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 substantial settlements for families whose children were born with serious defects as a result of the exposure to toxic chemicals at the base.

Environmental Exposure

Some birth defects can be caused by the combination of medical negligence and environmental conditions or chemical. 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 chemicals such as benzene, they should seek out an DC birth injury attorney to discuss their case.

Chemicals and other toxins in the environment can cause birth defects of a serious nature when they are consumed by or taken in by pregnant women. These substances are known as Teratogens. More than 4 million chemicals exist in our air, food and water and a few are harmful if they come into contact with pregnant women.

For instance, arsenic from drinking water, and cadmium from coal that has been contaminated can trigger a variety of birth defects and health problems. Industrial solvents, such as benzene toluene and trichloroethylene (a metal degreaser) are also linked to certain birth defects. Glycol ethers, employed in the manufacturing of semiconductors, silicon chips and video displays, are recognized to increase a woman's chances of having birth defects.

Our experienced attorneys for birth defects have filed many lawsuits on the name of children who suffered from a variety of birth defect attorneys defects due to wrongful toxic or chemical exposure at their workplace or home. These lawsuits typically involve complex scientific analysis and expert witnesses, such as toxicologists, epidemiologists, geneticists, occupational medicine experts, and embryologists.