Why You Should Hire a Birth Defect Attorney

The joy of being a parent can turn into a nightmare when you discover that your child was born with an anomaly in the birth. The majority of birth defects require ongoing medical attention. This can result in enormous financial costs.

A New York birth defect attorney can determine if your child's condition is the result of negligence at the hands of a doctor or hazardous chemicals or drugs.

Causes of Birth Defects

If your child has an issue with their birth that could have been prevented by a medical professional, then you should speak with an Long Island birth defects attorney promptly. A reputable lawyer will be able to handle the preceding steps quickly and efficiently, so that you can have the time to grieve for your injured family member.

Birth defects can affect nearly any part of a fetus. They can lead to physical problems or developmental disabilities, intellectual and physical like difficulty communicating or learning, or having difficulty with physical activities such as walking or taking care of oneself.

Certain birth defects can be identified prior to the birth of the baby through special tests. This includes analyzing the cells in a sample of blood or looking at amniotic liquid or the placenta. Increasingly, doctors can also detect birth defects by fetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging.

Certain birth defect lawyers defects are caused by genetic factors that cause abnormalities in a fetus's chromosomes or genes. These abnormalities can be inherited by parents or by mutations in the DNA of the fetus before conception. Trisomy 21, Spina Bifida and Tay-Sachs are two of the most frequently encountered genetic birth defects. Many other genetic birth defects have no known cause at all.

Medical Malpractice

You may be able bring a lawsuit against a doctor for medical malpractice if you or your child were injured by a mistake made by the health professional. This can include failure to treat or diagnose, including the doctor not taking your symptoms seriously or making a wrong diagnosis and not initiating the correct treatment or failing to follow-up on the results of tests as well as medication mistakes (e.g. anesthesia errors like giving excessive or the wrong kind of medication) and surgical mistakes (e.g., a surgeon leaving a surgical retractor blade in the patient during surgery).

Finding a lawyer who has expertise in malpractice cases can be a challenge. You can ask your friends, family members and lawyers in other areas for suggestions. You can also contact the state bar. Many bar associations offer search and referral tools that can help you locate an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

Chemical Exposure

Sometimes, birth defects can be caused by exposure to harmful chemicals that affect the mother or the fetus. Many of these chemicals are found in the workplace where they are used to make products like plastics paints, batteries, and ceramic glazes. They can be ingested, inhaled or just absorbed through the skin. Some of these toxins have been found to increase the risk of a birth defect in a child such as spina bifida and other mental and physical disorders.

These teratogen chemicals can be found in medicines that doctors have not properly prescribed, in chemicals used in the workplace, for instance in semiconductor "clean rooms" or in toxic substances that can contaminate the air and water. The Thornton Law Firm has represented many parents whose children have been born with serious birth defects because the mothers were exposed to glycol ethers or coal ash, as well as pesticides at their place of employment.

If you believe that the birth defect of your child was the result of medical negligence, a dangerous chemical or exposure to toxic substances during pregnancy, speak to an experienced New York birth injury attorney to schedule a no-cost consultation about your case today. These claims are highly sensitive to time and have strict deadlines for filing. An experienced attorney can assist you to determine if your child is eligible to file a claim, and if it is appropriate to file the claim through a court case or settlement agreements.

Product Liability

Many birth defects are the result of an incorrect prescription or exposure to chemicals. Parents are advised to speak with an attorney with expertise in birth defects immediately in the event that they believe their child's health issue was due to medical negligence or dangerous drugs. These cases can be extremely complicated and urgent.

Medical malpractice claims are often based on the environmental factors that lead to birth defects, like prescriptions that are not followed, or inadequate care during pregnancy. It is essential for families to seek legal assistance whenever possible as the statute of limitations for a medical negligence case is only one year.

Birth defect lawsuits against medications are also filed in cases where the doctor acted negligently when prescribing medication to the mother, such as in not understanding the way in which a certain drug could interact with other medications the woman might be taking or not adequately advising her of the potential side effects. A Maryland birth defects lawyer for birth defects in medication can help clients recover damages when a doctor causes a birth defect or injury due to negligence.

A family that has one of their children born with a severe birth defect could face huge expenses, which include surgery, therapy and ongoing treatment for the rest of their child's life. An experienced and knowledgeable birth defect attorneys defect attorney can assist parents to determine if their child's medical issue was the result of medical negligence or a dangerous drug exposure to toxic substances.