Pregnancy is rarely an easy journey. The discomforts of pregnancy can range from mildly irritating to potentially fatal. As a result, many pregnant women require prescription medication from time to time. Sometimes, these medications are absolutely necessary and cannot be avoided or traded for safer drugs. But at other times, prescriptions should be avoided or swapped for alternatives in order to protect both the woman and her pregnancy.
Tragically, some drugs are determined to cause birth defects only after hundreds or thousands of women and their pregnancies have been affected by them. At other times, a great deal of information is available about potential risks from the start of a woman’s medical treatment. Although even then, careless pharmacists or physicians can accidentally expose pregnant women to truly hazardous drugs.
Every woman’s pregnancy is unique. As a result, each woman and her physician must weigh the pros and cons of taking certain medications that might be risky. Nearly every medication available carries some risk. What is vitally important is that women are able to make truly informed decisions in partnership with physicians who are in no way negligent about delivering information and treatments.
Sometimes, defects occur due to medical negligence, a lack of information or other challenging circumstances. Once defects detected after birth have been made apparent, it is important for parents to speak with a personal injury attorney experienced in prescription drug birth defect cases specifically. Speaking with an attorney does not obligate parents to any specific course of action. However, it will allow parents to make the most informed decision possible for their children.
When parents do decide to file lawsuits as a result of the harm caused to mother or child as a result of hazardous drugs, the benefits can be two-fold. First, parents can better ensure that they will receive compensation for a child’s medical expenses at birth and into the future. Second, the effects of this kind of suit can help to ensure that other women’s pregnancies are not exposed to the same risks.