Defective Drug Lawyers
SSRI Antidepressant Lawsuit | Birth Defects : Skeletal Defects, Neural Tube Defects, Heart Defects, and Limb Birth Defects, Cleft Lip Defects, Cleft Palate Defects, Suicidal Behavior, and Serotonin Syndrome | Lawsuits, Lawyer, Attorney
SSRI Antidepressants : Effexor, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, and Zyban
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) Antidepressant Birth Defects Lawyers
The leading law firm of Alonso Krangle LLP is currently investigating potential legal claims on behalf of families who believe their baby was born with birth defects, including heart and lung abnormalities and autism, due to the mothers use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants during pregnancy. Medications currently being investigated by our defective drug lawyers include:
- Celexa
- Lexapro
- Paxil
- Prozac
- Zoloft
The defective drug lawyers at Alonso Krangle LLP are leaders in defective drug litigation, and understand the difficult road families of birth defect victims must travel. If your childs suffering was caused by an SSRI antidepressant taken during pregnancy, your family deserves compensation from the maker of that drug. Filing a SSRI birth defect lawsuit could enable you to obtain money damages for your childs current and future medical needs, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. Compensation from an SSRI birth defect lawsuit could ensure that your child has access to the best rehabilitative therapy and special education services available. The defective drug lawyers at Alonso Krangle LLP are currently offering free lawsuit consultations to any family who believes an SSRI caused their baby’s birth defect. To learn more about obtaining justice for your baby, please contact the SSRI birth defect lawyers at Alonso Krangle today.
SSRI Antidepressants and Birth Defects
SSRI antidepressants work by boosting serotonin levels in the brain, resulting in the regulation of mood, sleep and appetite. Birth defects that may be associated with the use of SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy include:
- Congenital heart lesions anomalies
- Downs syndrome
- Undescended testes in males
- Blindness
- Spina bifida
- Hernia
- Malformations
- Clubfoot (one or both feet turn downward and inward)
- Septal defects; Cleft lip and/or cleft palate
- Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of Newborn (PPHN)
- Autism
Since the first SSRI (Prozac) was approved by the U.S. Food Drug Administration (FDA), the agency has issued several warnings about the drugs and birth defects. In 2005, the agency warned that studies have shown that infants born to women who had first trimester Paxil exposure had an increased risk of heart birth defects, primarily ventricular and atrial septal defects (VSDs and ASDs). In 2006, the FDA asked the manufacturers of several SSRI antidepressants to add information to their labels describing the potential risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) after a study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found a six-fold increased risk of the disorder among infants born to mothers who took an antidepressant in the last trimester of pregnancy.
A number of other studies have linked the use of SSRIs to the development of birth defects, including:
- In 1996, a study published in the NEJM revealed that women taking Prozac during pregnancy were two times as likely to deliver a baby with three or more “minor abnormalities” and poorer than average neonatal adaptation.
- In 2005, a Danish study showed that infants exposed to SSRIs during the first trimester of pregnancy had a 60% higher probability of developing congenital heart defects when compared with infants whose mothers did not take the drugs.
- In 2007, another NEJM study linked SSRI drugs to neural tube defects, including spina bifida and anencephaly.
- Both the National Birth Defects Prevention Study of Infants and the NEJM published research in 2007 which linked SSRI antidepressants to cranial defects and abdominal birth defects.
- Another 2007 study published by the NEJM found that children born to pregnant women who took an SSRI were three times more likely to suffer right ventricular defects than women who did not take the drug. The study also found that these children may be at an increased risk of other cardiac defects.
- In a 2011 study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers from Kaiser Permanente Northern California found that the risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder was about twice as high among women who took SSRIs in the year before delivery. That risk was even four times higher in women who took SSRIs during their first trimester.
Learn More About Filing An SSRI Birth Defect Lawsuit
If your child was born with a birth defect, and you believe an SSRI, including Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, or Zoloft, might be to blame, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the manufacturers of these medications. To learn more about the legal options available to you, please contact the SSRI birth defect lawyers at Alonso Krangle LLP by filling out our online form or calling us.