Pregnancy is a complicated mixture of magical and miserable. Within those nine months, pregnant people experience a variety of symptoms, a ton of attention, and advice from every well-intentioned busybody that they meet. Parents also rely heavily on their doctor’s advice when it comes to treating symptoms and making pregnancy as comfortable as possible.
However, even the most experienced birth parents have bad advice—and so can doctors. Medical researchers constantly strive to make care as effective as possible. Pharmaceutical companies must pass stringent requirements to distribute or change medications. But sometimes, things get missed—and it can be our children who have to live with life-altering consequences.
Evolving Prenatal Science
Generations ago, mothers were advised to smoke while pregnant. That’s right! Modern medicine now understands just how harmful that can be. We’ve also learned that pregnant parents should not drink alcohol and should at least limit caffeine. As medical science evolves, doctors work to keep up and only give the best advice to their patients. But every so often, we learn something that was once common practice is more harmful than we gave it credit for.
Tylenol and generic acetaminophen have now been linked to neurodivergence in children. In a decades-long study, researchers sampled blood taken from umbilical cords after birth and then monitored the families as their children grew. During this time, they discovered that if a parent took Tylenol or like drugs while pregnant, their children were three times as likely to develop a neurodivergence like autism or ADHD. While these diagnoses aren’t the worst possible news for your child, they do drastically affect their life and future.
The First Step for Parents: Understanding
If your child is diagnosed with neurodivergence, your first step is to learn. Learn about the diagnosis, what it can mean, and what can help. Find support from others who have the diagnosis and can give you advice on what worked and didn’t work from them. Advice from medical professionals who are up to date on the latest research. Advice from helpful organizations that connect families to resources and support groups.
The Second Step for Parents: Preparation
Autism and other neurodivergence will affect how your child learns and grows. Some autistic people are nonverbal and need other ways to communicate, while others have sensory sensitivities. A child with ADHD may behave poorly on certain foods and might need help learning strategies for focus and school. If you know the different possibilities, you can try to prepare for solutions. Nonverbal? Consider a letter or picture board. Sensory issues? Trial and error to find a pattern if it’s taste and texture, or invest in noise-canceling headphones. If you have a plan in place, you can react faster to help your child be comfortable.
Another thing that sounds a little morbid, you need to prepare for what will happen to your child if you die. They may grow up to be perfectly independent, or they may need to be in an assisted living community. Talk things over with your extended family and decide who will be your child’s guardian should the worst happen. Also, start a savings fund to help with their care as they grow older.
The Third Step for Parents: Treatment
Neurodivergence isn’t a disease. It just means that your brain works differently. Some neurodivergence, like depression and anxiety, can be harmful. These generally need medication to help the brain supplement missing chemicals for mood regulation.
Autism alone does not require medication, though some of the symptoms may benefit. Instead, you may need to look into certain therapies to help your child’s development, like occupational therapy or speech therapy. Many neurodivergent people benefit from service dogs or emotional support animals, though it’s important to note that ESAs are not covered under the ADA aside from being allowed in pet-free apartments.
Of note, therapies, treatments, and accessibility aids get expensive. It’s important to have a fund set aside for your child’s medical or accessibility needs.
The Fourth Step for Parents: Find a Lawyer
While it’s true that neither autism nor ADHD are the worst things to happen to a child, these diagnoses will affect them for the rest of their life. With a qualified Chicago attorney at your side, you can seek compensation from the manufacturers of Tylenol or the variant you took. Tylenol Autism lawsuits have gained traction since the research first came to light. Lawyers have successfully won claims against manufacturers to help parents have peace of mind and know that they can get their child what they need in life.
Find a personal injury lawyer who deals in medical malpractice. Then, see if they have taken on Tylenol autism lawsuits and what their rate of success is. Most Chicago personal injury lawyers offer free consultations, where you can get to know the attorney and see if you have a viable case.
The Fifth Step: Justice and Compensation
Neurodivergence and developmental disabilities make life more difficult. Though society is slowly learning how to accommodate various disabilities, many areas still struggle with accessibility. If you were advised to take Tylenol while you were pregnant, and it led to your child having neurodivergence, you may be entitled to compensation.
Accountability in the medical and pharmaceutical fields is imperative to a happy, healthy society. When manufacturers make a mistake with their medication, they need to face the consequences, including helping the families their lack of research impacted.
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