A recent study published in Clinical Epidemiology found that taking SSRIs while pregnant doubles or in some cases quadruples the risk of birth defects. The study looked at over 200,000 pregnant women from Denmark. The authors found that the risk of serious heart malformations was more than doubled when a pregnant woman took an SSRI in the first trimester of pregnancy. The risk was even greater with certain types of SSRIs. The popular SSRI- Zoloft (generic Sertraline), was found to triple the risk of heart malformations. This is the third study showing heart defects are significantly increased with use of the drug Zoloft in pregnancy.
Representing Families Nationwide
At Tracey Law Firm, our Texas Zoloft lawsuit attorneys represent injured people in birth injury and birth defect claims associated with antidepressant medications, including Zoloft. If you believe your child has suffered a birth defect due to the use of prescription Zoloft, consider representation by a firm that has literally defined new areas of birth defect litigation. Tracey Law Firm is the first law firm to show that the drug Paxil can cause heart defects in the unborn children of women taking the drug.
Contact our firm today to schedule an initial consultation.
Antidepressant Drug Zoloft Associated With Birth Injuries
The SSRI Zoloft, like Paxil and Prozac, has been found to be associated with birth defects. The Pederson Study from 2009, showed a doubling of cardiac malformations overall and a tripling of cardiac septal defects. Further when more than one SSRI was used during pregnancy the numbers increased three and five times. The Louik study from 2007 found that Zoloft also doubled cardiac defects. The risk of RVOTO (right ventricle outflow tract obstruction) defects was doubled for SSRIs as a group. In the same study the risk of omphalocele, an abdominal wall defect, was increased almost six times.
Zoloft is still a Pregnancy Category C drug. The D category (Paxil is an example) tells doctors that studies have been done in humans that have found evidence of birth defects. The lesser C category says that no evidence has been found in human studies, but there has been some evidence from animal studies. Click on link to read study.
The Alwan Study
The Alwan study from 2007 found as a group SSRIs had an increased risk of anencephaly, craniosynostosis and omphalocele. Zoloft by itself had three-time increased risk of anencephaly, a kind of neural tube defect.
Other birth injuries and defects from SSRIs can include:
- Heart and lung defects (holes in the atrial or ventral septum)
- Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN)
- Omphalocele (an abdominal birth defect)
- Hydrocephalus (water on the brain)
- Craniosynostosis (causes the head to be misshapen)
Contact Us for a Houston SSRI Pharmaceutical Injury Lawyer
If you or a loved one has suffered from a birth defect you believe was caused by an SSRI please contact us. Our experienced defective drug injury lawyers can discuss your case with you in a free initial consultation.
