Infant Heart Defects

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Use of Anti-depressants During Pregnancy Linked to Serious Heart Defects in Babies

Anti-depressants that belong to a category of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including Zoloft, Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil and Celexa are linked to an increased risk of serious cardiac birth defects for infants exposed to the drug before birth.

 

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Serious and potentially fatal infant heart defects include:

Drug Companies’ Responsibility

Pharmaceutical companies have a duty to their consumers to manufacture the safest drug possible. This is possible through unceasing research both before and after the FDA approves the drug for sale. The continuous monitoring is especially important for the risk of birth defects, as those cannot be premarket tested due to possible harm to fetuses. If adverse side effects do surface, drug manufacturers are responsible for immediately notifying the FDA, doctors and the public, so that no more consumers are harmed. When this does not occur and users continue to take the drug, unaware of the dangerous side effects, the pharmaceutical company must be held accountable for their negligent actions and the resulting injuries.

What You Can Do

If your baby was born with cardiac birth defects that may be the result of exposure to an anti-depressant, you can file a claim for compensation against the drug manufacturer. Although money cannot reverse the damage to your baby, compensation can offset the medical costs and continued financial burden on your family, as well as provide damages for pain and suffering.

By filing a claim against the manufacturer, you are telling these companies that selling a dangerous drug and not warning mothers about the full range of risks is unacceptable. Your action could persuade these companies to change their drug warnings, so that other babies and their families may be spared the suffering yours experienced.

Contact Us

If you or someone you know has given birth to a baby with a congenital heart defect that may be the result of prenatal use of anti-depressants, contact our office today for a free consultation. One of our experienced attorneys will explain your legal rights and options and help decide the best course for your case.

History of Dangerous Anti-depressants

2011, July – Study published in the Obstetrics & Gynecology medical journal linked prenatal Prozac use to ventricular septal defects and prenatal Paxil use to right ventricular outflow defects. The rate of defect for Prozac-exposed babies is double that of unexposed babies, and the rate for Paxil-exposed babies is more than 4 times the rate for unexposed babies.

2009, June – Study published in the British Medical Journal showed that babies exposed to SSRI anti-depressants were nearly twice as likely to develop septal heart defects than babies not exposed to the drug.

2007, June – Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine links certain prenatal use of anti-depressants to significantly increased risk of congenital heart defects including septal defects and right ventricular outflow tract obstruction defects. Other defects that were found to be more likely for infants exposed to anti-depressants included:

2005, September – FDA Alert about Paxil linked it to a nearly doubled risk of atrial and ventricular septal defects (ASD and VSD) for babies born to women who took the drug during the first trimester of pregnancy.