ANTIDEPRESSANTS AND BIRTH DEFECTS

Effexor and Other Antidepressants May Cause Defects in Newborn Babies

Since September, 2005 information has been emerging that certain antidepressants may cause birth defects, including cardiac (heart), pulmonary  (lung), craniosynostosis (abnormally shaped skull) and infant omphalocele (abdominal wall defects). Baum Hedlund is investigating whether or not antidepressants such as Celexa, Cymbalta, Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Symbyax and Zoloft cause these birth defects as well.

The FDA issued an alert in July 2006 warning about the increased risk of Neonatal Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN) by mothers taking SSRI antidepressants such as Celexa (citalopram), Fluvoxamine, Lexapro (escitalopram), Prozac (fluoxetine), Symbyax (olanzapine and fluoxetine) and Zoloft (sertraline).

Baum Hedlund, a pharmaceutical drug product liability law firm that over the last 20 years has represented thousands of antidepressant victims, presently  represents many families whose children were born with heart birth defects or PPHN to mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy. Anyone in need of an antidepressant birth defect lawyer or anyone interested in filing an antidepressant birth defect lawsuit or class action lawsuit should contact Baum Hedlund for a free consultation.

Heart Birth Defects: The FDA issued a Public Health Advisory on December 8, 2005 based on U.S. and Swedish studies showing that exposure to certain antidepressants in the first trimester of pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of heart birth defects. Most of the cardiac defects observed in these studies were atrial or ventricular septal defects, conditions in which the wall between the right and left sides of the heart is not completely developed.

PPHN: Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) is a serious and life-threatening lung condition that occurs soon after birth of the newborn. Babies with PPHN have high pressure in their lung blood vessels and are not able to get enough oxygen into their bloodstream. About 1 to 2 babies per 1000 babies born in the U.S. develop PPHN shortly after birth, and often they need intensive medical care.

On July 19, 2006 the FDA issued another Public Health Advisory for Celexa (citalopram), Fluvoxamine, Lexapro (escitalopram), Prozac (fluoxetine), Symbyax (olanzapine and fluoxetine) and Zoloft (sertraline) based on a study that suggests there may be additional risks of SSRI medications during pregnancy. In this study PPHN was six times more common in babies whose mothers took an SSRI antidepressant after the 20th week of the pregnancy compared to babies whose mothers did not take an antidepressant.

Abdominal Birth Defects: According to data obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study of infants, women who took an SSRI-antidepressant were more likely than those who were not exposed to have an infant with omphalocele (an abnormality in newborns in which the infant's intestine or other abdominal organs protrude from the navel).

Cranial Birth Defects: The authors of National Birth Defects Prevention Study of infants also found an association of exposure to any SSRI-antidepressant and giving birth to an infant with craniosynostosis (a congenital defect where the connections between sutures-skull bones prematurely close during the first year of life, which causes an abnormally shaped skull.)