Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Attorney

Learning your child has a birth defect can change the joy of being a parent into a harrowing experience. The majority of birth defects require ongoing medical care, which can result in a staggering cost for the family.

A New York birth defect attorney can determine whether your child's health issue was caused by negligence at the hands of a doctor or hazardous chemicals or drugs.

Causes of Birth Defects

Contact a Long Island birth defect attorney promptly when your child is suffering from an anomaly in birth defect law firm which could have been cured by a medical professional. A reputable attorney can manage the preceding step quickly and efficiently, so you can grieve your ailing loved one.

Birth defects are structural or functional changes to the body of a fetus that can affect almost every part of the human body. They can cause physical issues or intellectual and developmental disabilities including difficulty learning or communicating or difficulty with physical activities such as walking or taking care of oneself.

Certain birth defects can be detected before the baby is born through special tests, for example, analyzing cells in a blood sample or by examining samples of amniotic fluid or the placenta. Increasingly, doctors can also detect birth defects with ultrasound fetal and magnetic resonance imaging.

Certain birth defects are caused by genetic factors, for example the chromosomes in a fetus's body and genes. These defects can be passed down by parents or by mutations that occur in the DNA of the fetus before conception. Trisomy 21, Spina Bifida, and Tay-Sachs are among the most frequent genetic birth defects. Many other genetic birth defects have no known cause at all.

Medical Malpractice

You could be able to make a claim against an individual doctor for medical negligence when you or your child was injured as a result of a mistake made by the health professional. This could be due to failures to diagnose, such as an obstetrician who fails to take your symptoms seriously, makes a wrong diagnosis, and doesn't begin the correct treatment or fails to follow up with the results of tests. It can also be a result of mistakes with medication, like the wrong diagnosis of anesthesia, giving too much medication or the wrong medication, as well as surgical errors.

Finding a lawyer with experience in malpractice cases can be a difficult task. You can ask your friends, family members and attorneys from other fields for suggestions. You can also contact your state bar association. Many bar associations provide search/referral services to assist you in finding an experienced medical negligence lawyer.

Chemical Exposure

Sometimes, birth defects result from exposure to dangerous chemicals that harm the mother or the fetus. Many of these chemicals are used in the workplace, where they are used to manufacture items like plastics, batteries, paint and ceramic glazes. These chemicals are ingested or inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. Some of these toxins have been shown to increase the risk of a birth defect in a baby such as spina bifida and other mental and physical ailments.

These teratogen chemicals are present in drugs that doctors have negligently prescribed, in the use of chemicals at work, birth defect for example, in semiconductor "clean rooms" or in toxic chemicals that contaminate air and water. The Thornton Law Firm has represented 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 workplace.

Contact an experienced New York birth injury lawyer for a free consultation today should you suspect that the birth defect of your child was caused by medical negligence, toxic substance or a dangerous drug during pregnancy. These claims have strict deadlines and are time-sensitive. An experienced attorney can determine if a child is eligible to file an claim, and if it is best to file it through court or a settlement agreement.

Product Liability

Many birth defects are caused by an incorrect prescription or exposure to chemicals. Parents are advised to contact an attorney for birth defects right away if they believe that their child's illness was the result of negligence in the medical field or exposure to dangerous drugs. These cases can be complex and extremely time-sensitive.

Medical malpractice cases typically involve the cause of a birth defect due to environmental factors, like exposure to environmental chemicals prescriptions that are not properly followed or drugs, or inadequate prenatal care. Families should seek legal advice immediately because the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is only one year.

Birth defect lawsuits for medication are also filed in cases where the doctor acted negligently when prescribing medication to the mother, for example in not understanding the way in which a certain drug could interact with other medications that the mother may be taking, or by not adequately advising the mother of the possible side effects. A Maryland attorney who specializes in medical birth defects can assist clients in recovering damages when a doctor has acted negligently and causes birth injuries or birth defect.

A family with a baby who is suffering from a serious birth defect may need to pay for a hefty amount of surgical, medical, 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 their child was due to medical negligence, a dangerous drug, or toxic exposure.