Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Attorney

Knowing that your child is suffering from a birth defect can transform the joy of parenthood into a frightening experience. The majority of birth defects require lifetime medical attention. This can lead to enormous financial costs.

A New York birth defects attorney can determine if your child's problem is due to medical negligence or toxic chemicals or drugs.

Causes of Birth Defects

If your child suffers a birth defect which could have been prevented by an medical professional, you must contact an Long Island birth defects attorney as soon as you can. A reputable lawyer will be able to handle the previous steps swiftly and efficiently, ensuring that you have time to grieve for your injured family member.

Birth defects can affect nearly any part of a pregnant fetus. They can cause physical ailments or intellectual and developmental disabilities including difficulty in communicating or learning or with activities like walking or taking care of oneself.

Certain birth defects can be detected before the baby is delivered by specific tests. These include analyzing cells in blood samples or examining a sample of amniotic fluid or the placenta. Increasingly, doctors can also detect birth defects using ultrasound fetal and magnetic resonance imaging.

Some birth problems are caused by genetic factors such as the presence of abnormalities on the fetus's chromosomes, or genes. These defects can be passed down from parents, or they can be caused by mutations to the fetus's DNA that were discovered during the conception. Some of the most common birth defects that are genetic in nature include trisomy 21, spina Bifida and Tay-Sachs's disease. Many other genetic birth defect have no known cause.

Medical Malpractice

You could be able to bring a lawsuit against an individual doctor for medical negligence when you or your child was injured by a mistake made by the health professional. This could include the failure to treat/diagnose, including doctors who do not take your symptoms seriously or making a wrong diagnosis and not beginning the correct treatment or not following up on the results of tests and medication mistakes (e.g. anesthesia errors like giving excessive or the wrong kind of medication) and surgical mistakes (e.g. the surgeon removing a surgical retractor blade in the patient during surgery).

Finding an attorney with experience in malpractice suits can be difficult. However you can seek recommendations from family members and close friends, as well as attorneys in other fields. You can also reach out to the state bar. Bar associations generally have search and referral tools that will help you find an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

Chemical Exposure

Birth defects are often caused by chemicals that can harm the fetus or mother. Many of these chemicals can be present at work, and they are utilized in the manufacture of products like paint ceramic glazes, batteries and plastics. These chemicals can be ingested or breathed in, or absorbed into the skin of the body. Certain of these chemicals are known to increase the risk for a child developing birth defects, such as spina-bifida, or other physical and psychological conditions.

These teratogen chemical agents may be found in prescription drugs that were not prescribed by doctors, in chemicals employed in the workplace, such as those found in semiconductor "clean room" environments or in toxic substances that pollute the air and water in communities. The Thornton Law Firm has represented numerous parents whose children were born with birth defects that were serious after the mothers were exposed to glycol ethers as well as pesticides and coal ash at their work.

Contact an experienced New York birth injury lawyer for a free consultation now should you suspect that the birth defects of your child were caused due to medical negligence, a hazardous drug or exposure to toxic substances during pregnancy. These claims have the strictest time limit and are time-sensitive. An experienced lawyer can help you determine whether your child has the right to file a claim and if it should be filed through a court case or an agreement to settle.

Product Liability

Many birth defects could be the result of a wrong prescription or exposure to chemicals. If parents suspect that the condition of their child is the result of negligence in medicine or the use of dangerous drugs, they should contact an attorney for birth defects right away. These cases can be extremely complicated and sensitive to time.

Medical malpractice claims are often based on external factors that cause birth defects, like incorrectly prescribed medications or drugs or inadequate care during pregnancy. It is important for families to seek legal help as soon as possible, because the time-limit for a medical negligence case is set at one year.

A lawsuit for a medication birth defect may also be filed if the doctor was negligent when prescribing medications to a mother. For example the doctor failed to understand the interactions of a drug with other medications the woman could be taking, or failed to inform her about its potential side effects. A Maryland attorney who specializes in medical birth defects will assist clients in obtaining damages when a doctor has acted negligently and causes a birth injury or birth defect.

A newborn who is suffering from a serious birth defect may need to pay for a hefty amount of medical treatment, surgery and therapy throughout the child's lifetime. A birth defect lawyer who is knowledgeable and experienced can assist parents determine whether the medical condition of the child was caused by medical negligence, a dangerous substance or exposure to toxic substances.