Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Lawyer
If your child was born with an anomaly in the birth, it can be devastating for you and your family. Medical bills, therapy costs and other expenses can quickly add up.
A Hyattsville birth defect lawyer can assist you in filing an appeal to receive reimbursement for the costs of taking care of your disabled child. Legal claims for birth defects are complex and therefore it is vital to seek legal advice whenever you can.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care when treating pregnant women or their babies. Doctors can be held accountable for damages if their actions result in
birth defects or injuries. A DC lawyer who has experience in birth defect lawsuits can help you determine whether your child's illness could have been caused by an error made by a doctor during the pregnancy or delivery.
A doctor could also be the cause of an injury that occurs during birth if they fail to recognize or properly respond to distress in the fetus. This could lead to many serious problems like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and brain injuries like cerebral palsy.
The difference between birth defects and birth injury is that defects are a part of a person's genetic make-up and injuries are triggered by an event that occurs during labor, pregnancy or delivery. 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 - swelling of the scalp. Both of these could lead to lifelong disability and require ongoing treatment, resulting in significant medical bills. A Washington, DC lawyer who specializes in birth defects can provide a free consultation to analyze your case and determine the most appropriate course for you and your baby.
Prescription Drugs
A birth defect lawyer might be able to assist parents determine the reason for a child's birth injury, or defect. While many birth defects are due to genetics and factors during the pregnancy of a mother, they can also occur because of medications. A number of common medications can have negative effects on foetuses. This is especially relevant in the first three months of pregnancy. Anti-nausea medications, NSAIDs and chemotherapy medications are among the most frequently used. These drugs have been linked to a higher risk of limb defects and heart defects, brain defects and craniosynostosis.
A doctor's duty is to take into account the risks when prescribing medications for pregnant women. If doctors do not follow this standard of care, then they could be held accountable for negligence. Pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable for not properly warning mothers of the dangers associated with their drugs. For example, Zofran, a medication used to treat nausea in cancer patients, has been demonstrated to significantly increase the risk of congenital defects that are major in the first trimester of pregnancies.
An attorney for birth defects can assist a family to obtain compensation for medical expenses, loss of income and quality of life. This can include doctor's, hospital, pharmaceutical, and other expenses, as well as aidive devices and treatments.
Chemical Exposure
A
birth defect lawyer can bring a lawsuit on behalf of families of children who have congenital disabilities as a result from the negligence of companies which expose pregnant women and drugs that can cause birth defects. They are trained to determine the root of the birth defect, so they can sue companies who expose mothers to teratogens when they work or at their homes.
Metals, fungicides and herbicides as well as pesticides are just a few of the chemicals that can cause birth defects. These chemicals are called teratogens due to their impact on the healthy growth of the fetus causing chemical changes that prevent normal cell function or cause organs to be malformed. These chemicals can be used in a variety of environments, including processing of semiconductors and metal cleaning.
Other hazardous chemicals that could cause birth defect lawsuit (
Highly recommended Site) defects are aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as perchloroethylene (trichloroethylene), trichloroethylene ( dichloroethane. These chemicals have been known to cause birth problems, including cardiac defects in babies born to mothers exposed to them while in the womb.
Parents have filed lawsuits against a variety of companies involved in 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 who had children born with severe defects resulting from 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 believes the birth defect in their child could be due to medical negligence, prescription drug abuse or exposure to harmful chemicals, they should contact an DC birth injury lawyer to discuss the matter.
If pregnant women ingest or absorb contaminants from the surrounding environment They could cause serious birth defects. Teratogens are the term used to describe these substances. More than 4 million chemicals are found in our food, air and water. Certain of these chemicals may be dangerous to pregnant women.
For instance, arsenic in drinking water and cadmium in coal that is contaminated can cause a variety of birth defects as well as other health problems. Certain birth defects are also related to industrial solvents, such as benzene (a metal degreaser) and toluene (a solvent for plastics) and trichloroethylene. Glycol-ethers are also known to increase the risk of birth defects among 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 numerous lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from a wide range of birth defects caused by the wrongful exposure to chemicals and toxic substances at workplaces or at home. These lawsuits involve complicated scientific analyses and expert witnesses like toxicologists and epidemiologists.