Tracey Law Firm, Houston, Texas
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Tracey Law Firm represents families whose children were born with birth defects after their mothers' ingestion of the antidepressant during pregnancy.
New Study Links To Increased Risk Of Birth Defects In Babies
Women Who Take Prozac During First Trimester of Pregnancy Are Four Times More Likely To Have Children With Heart Defects
November 24, 2008 - A recent study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology by Orna Diav-Citrin of The Israeli Teratogen Information Service found a four-fold increased risk of cardiovascular defects in infants born to mothers who took the antidepressant, Prozac (fluoxetine), during the first trimester of pregnancy. The study also found that another antidepressant, Paxil (paroxetine), increased the risk of cardiovascular defects in infants by 2.5 times .
The study followed 410 paroxetine, 314 fluoxetine first trimester exposed pregnancies and 1467 controls. The study excluded infants whose birth defects were known to be caused by genetics. The objective of the study was to evaluate prospectively the rate of major congenital anomalies after pregnancy exposure to Paxil compared with Prozac.
- PROZAC was the first of a new class of drugs, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to be approved for use in the United States. This new type of medication is supposed to help patients with depression by increasing the availability of serotonin in the brain. Scientists believe serotonin affects many types of activity in the brain, including the regulation of mood.
- PROZAC was initially approved for treatment of depression in Belgium in 1986 and in the United States in 1987. Since then, it has been approved and marketed in more than 90 countries and used by more than 60 million people worldwide.
- PROZAC is approved to treat clinical depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder and bulimia.
If you have a child with a birth defect and took Prozac or another antidepressant during pregnancy contact the Tracey Law Firm today for a free consultation.
