Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Name:

E-mail:

Phone Number:

Zip Code:

Your Question:

Editor: Robert Binstock
Profession: Paxil Side Effect Attorney

Category: Paxil Birth Defects

A new study of more than half a million women who had taken selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), like Paxil, found that almost half were not aware of serious birth defects associated with the medication. Women taking SSRIs are at particular risk of a life-threatening lung defect that occurs over six times more often in mothers taking antidepressants. This disorder is known as persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) and is characterized by the inability of the newborn to be able to adjust to breathing outside the womb. This is just one on many dangers associated with antidepressant use.

In any given year in the US, at least eighty-thousand pregnant women are prescribed SSRI's, according to a study in the May 2005, Journal of American Medical Association. The CDC recently reported that antidepressants were the most prescribed class of drugs in the country in 2005. The fact that the overall prescribing rate is higher than for any other drugs indicates that a large number of pregnant women may be taking antidepressants without knowledge of the risks to the unborn fetus.

There have been numerous studies linking SSRIs to birth defects and the FDA had required extensive labeling revisions to warn of these potential risks; however, it is speculated that these risks are not being adequately conveyed to women considering taking these drugs, before they ever begin use. The bottom line is that somehow we must decrease the number of pregnant women taking antidepressants and this will in turn increase the likelihood of more healthy newborns.