ZOLOFT (SERTRALINE), PAXIL, CELEXA, LEXAPRO, WELLBUTRIN (BUPROPION), AND OTHER SSRI MEDICATIONS MAY CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS

SSRI antidepressants have been linked to variety of severe birth defects including Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN), heart, lung, abdominal, and cranial defects.

If you or a loved one took SSRI medications while pregnant and had a child with a birth defect, you should contact us immediately. You may be entitled to compensation and we can help.

Heart Defects

The U.S. FDA warned doctors and patients that exposure to SSRI’s such as Zoloft and Paxil during pregnancy pose a serious risk to the fetus and has been linked to an increased risk of Congenital Heart Defects.

Club Foot

Recent studies conducted by the Institute of Reproductive Toxicology at the University of Ulm, Germany and the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University found some women who took SSRIs throughout their pregnancy had children born with club feet. True club foot is a malformation. The bones, joints, muscles, and blood vessels of the limb are abnormal. An infant with club foot has a foot that is inturned, stiff and cannot be brought to a normal position.

Spina Bifida/Neural Tube Defects

Neural tube defects (or NTDs) are birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. The two most common neural tube defects are spina bifida and anencephaly. In spina bifida, the fetal spinal column does not close completely during the first month of pregnancy. There is usually nerve damage that causes at least some paralysis of the legs. In anencephaly, much of the brain does not develop. Babies with anencephaly are either stillborn or die shortly after birth.

SSRI’s may increase the risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects. If you were taking an SSRI before you found out you were pregnant, there is a possibility that your child’s birth defect was caused by the drug — even if you stopped taking it once you found out you were pregnant!

Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN)

The New England Journal of Medicine released the results of a case-controlled study wherein SSRI’s including Zoloft were linked to an increased risk of an infant being born with Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN).

Shortly after the study was released, the FDA issued another Public Health Advisory warning ingesting Zoloft during pregnancy posed a serious risk to the fetus and was linked to an increased risk of PPHN.

Abdominal & Cranial Birth Defects

Information released from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study of Infants, SSRI antidepressants like Zoloft may cause two separate congenital abnormalities called Omphalocele and Craniosynostosis.

Omphalocele is a congenital (present at birth) abdominal wall defect at the base of the umbilical cord (umbilicus); the infant is born with a sac protruding through the defect which contains small intestine, liver, and large intestine.

Craniosynostosis is a congenital (present at birth) defect that causes one or more sutures on a baby’s head to close earlier than normal. Sutures are connections that separate each individual skull bones. The early closing of a suture leads to an abnormally shaped head.

PULASKI & MIDDLEMAN REPRESENTS ONE OF THE FIRST WOMEN TO FILE SUIT AGAINST GLAXO SMITH KLINE FOR INJURIES SUSTAINED TO HER CHILD AFTER TAKING PAXIL DURING PREGNANCY

Birth Defects

The FDA is strengthening its warning for the antidepressant Paxil because it may be associated with birth defects, citing a new study that found increased risk of fetuses developing heart defects. The FDA asked manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline to reclassify the drug, which goes by the generic name Paroxetine, as a “Category D” drug for pregnant women. The classification means that studies in pregnant women have shown a risk to the fetus. Two studies of pregnant women taking Paxil during their first trimester showed that their babies have heart defects at a rate of 1.5 to 2 times the norm. The FDA is advising doctors not to prescribe Paxil to women in their first three months of pregnancy or people who are planning to become pregnant, unless there are no other options.

WE HAVE OVER $200,000,000.00 IN PAXIL SETTLEMENTS.

We can help you explore your legal options. Call the Zoloft lawyers of Pulaski & Middleman at 800-223-3784 to learn more.