According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Birth Defects and Autism Reporting System (BDARS), previously referred to as the New Jersey Special Child Health Services Registry, was established in 1926 to gather data on children born with birth defects in New Jersey. The CDC finances 14 states to track birth defects with the requirement that the state birth defects tracking systems use the data for prevention and referral of affected children to needed services.
To better monitor children born with birth defects as they make their way through the referral and support services system in New Jersey, BDARS utilizes a data system which collects information from multiple sources for approximately 114,000 New Jersey births per year.
The data collected by BDARS helps explore potential causes of and risk factors for birth defects. The information gathered also helps identify whether the number of birth defects is decreasing or increasing over time. Other benefits of this tracking system include educating the public about birth defects and how to prevent them, referral of families affected by birth defects to proper services and assisting policymakers in allocating resources and services for affected children and their families.
Medical professionals are responsible for the timely and accurate prenatal diagnosis of an identifiable birth defect. If a child suffers from an identifiable birth defect but doctors failed to perform certain prenatal screening tests, misinterpreted prenatal tests, did not disclose test results, or, were negligent in some other way, parents could be faced with extraordinary medical care costs for their child; they may also be deprived of their options with regard to how they might want to manage their pregnancy. The New Jersey birth defect lawyers at Blume Forte have obtained numerous recoveries in meritorious birth injury and medical malpractice cases. To learn more about your legal rights, call us at 973-845-4421 for a no-cost consultation.