Paxil Warning

Several health agencies and research institutes have issued warnings in recent years that taking SSRI antidepressant drugs like Paxil during pregnancy can have serious negative effects on your unborn child.

These Paxil warning studies have uncovered data showing that taking these medications while pregnant can increase severe birth defects by as much as 600%. Some of the birth defects at risk include heart defects, abdominal defects, club foot, brain and spinal defects and skull deformations.

Unfortunately, this Paxil warning could affect millions as Paxil is one of the most popular antidepressant medications in the world. Tens of millions of people have taken it for obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression, panic disorder, PTSD and certain premenstrual disorders.  

Because of the failure of companies like GlaxoSmithKline to warn mothers about the dangers of their drug, experts worry that millions of children may have suffered serious birth defects from SSRI drugs like Paxil.

For more information on a specific Paxil warning, read below. Legal help is available if you have taken this drug and given birth to a child with birth defects.

If you suspect your child’s condition may be caused by taking Paxil during pregnancy, it is important to learn your legal options as soon as possible. Contact us today to learn about a substantial recovery that may help your child and family.

The initial Paxil birth defect warning was issued by the FDA in 2005 after researchers discovered a link between use of the drug during early stages of pregnancy and heart birth defects. A later study by the Aarhus University in Denmark, concluded that taking Paxil could more than double these risks.

The heart defects most commonly linked to SSRI drugs like Paxil are atrial septal defects (ASD) and ventricular septal defects (VSD). These are developmental disorders where the walls of the heart chambers form incompletely, or with holes in them.

More recently, the Institute of Reproductive Toxicology at the German University of Ulm and the Boston University Slone Epidemiology Center conducted research showing SSRI drugs like Paxil could increase the risk of club foot birth defects. Club foot occurs when the fetus’ lower leg and foot develop facing inward.

An additional Paxil warning was issued in 2006 when the New England Journal of Medicine unveiled a study from the University of California at San Diego which linked the drug to lung defects.

The research from UCSD found that SSRI drugs like Paxil could increase the risk of dangerous lung conditions such as Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN) by more than 600%.

As research continued, the New England Journal of Medicine released another study in 2007 which suggested Paxil and other SSRI drugs could lead to severe neural tube defects like anencephaly and spina bifida. These conditions cause underdevelopment of the brain and spine and often lead to brain damage, paralysis or even early death.

2007 also saw the release of studies from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study of Infants and New England Journal of Medicine that indicated Paxil and other SSRI drugs could cause abdominal and cranial birth defects.

Omphalocele is an abdominal condition where the intestines and liver form in a sac outside of the body after the abdominal muscles do not properly develop. Craniosynostosis is a cranial defect caused by the premature fusing of the individual skull bones. This can cause an irregular shape of the head.

Contact us today for more information on your child’s Paxil birth defect. We are available 24 hours a day for a confidential evaluation of your case.