Did you know that the medications a woman takes while pregnant could influence the chances of her child being born with birth injuries? There are many drugs that can be taken during pregnancy, but taking them at the wrong time or in the wrong amount could negatively influence the child’s development.
Administering medications that could be dangerous to the mother or cause birth defects could be medical malpractice in some cases. If your child is born with birth defects, you may have a case if you can show that you were prescribed medications that you should not have been.
Medications that cause birth defects
There are several kinds of medications that can cause birth defects. Commonly taken antidepressants are among them. Two of them, namely Prozac and Paxil, may be linked to birth injuries like persistent pulmonary hypertension.
Another medication, the diabetes drug metformin, has been linked to genital defects in baby boys, too, according to a report from Stanford Medicine in 2022.
Sometimes, the importance of taking a medication and the risk to the child have to be weighed against each other. If the doctor intends to prescribe a medication that could be linked to birth defects, they should discuss the risk with the mother and, in some cases, the father. Then, once fully informed, the patient can determine if they are willing to take the risk.
What can you do if your child is born with a birth defect?
If you gave birth to a child with a birth defect, it’s important to discuss the situation with your medical provider. You may also want to talk to other medical professionals to get a second opinion and to determine if the standard of care you expected during your pregnancy was not met.
Birth defects can have a negative impact on your child. Sometimes, those defects are permanent, but, in other cases, there could be options to treat the defect and help your child live more comfortably. It’s your right to look into the matter and to find out if you have a legal case against a medical provider because they prescribed a harmful drug to you during pregnancy.
