Texas Attorneys Handling Birth Defects Caused by SSRIs
Birth injuries are not caused only by doctor or hospital negligence during or after delivery. The quality of prenatal care a mother receives is just as important as managing a safe delivery, especially if she requires special medications to control certain anxiety disorders such as depression or bipolar disorder.
If doctors or pharmaceutical companies fail to make women aware of the possible harmful effects of the drugs they prescribe, they can and should be held accountable. The Texas law firm of Miller Weisbrod, LLP, is nationally recognized as a leader in pharmaceutical liability litigation. We will help you determine your real options for pursuing legal action against individual doctors or Big Pharma companies.
Did your child suffer a serious heart defect or other birth injury as a result of the use of pharmaceutical drugs? Contact our firm today to discuss your case in a free consultation.
Birth Defects Caused by SSRIs Taken During Pregnancy
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are a class of antidepressants used to treat patients who suffer from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder and other anxiety disorders. Although SSRIs have been around for decades, recent studies have indicated that pregnant women who take SSRIs — such as Paxil, Prozac, Xanax or Zoloft — during pregnancy have an increased risk of giving birth to a child with serious, life-threatening or even fatal birth defects.
In the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (2001), researchers found that women who took SSRIs during pregnancy were twice as likely as women who did not take SSRIs to give birth to children with birth defects. Such birth defects could include:
- Heart defects such as atrial or ventricular septal defects (defects in the walls of chambers in the heart), tetralogy of Fallot, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and other serious conditions
- Persistent pulmonary hypertension in a newborn (PPHN), a serious and sometimes fatal circulatory condition
- Craniosynostosis, or premature closing of the skull bones
- Omphalocele, an abdominal defect in which intestines or other abdominal organs protrude outside the abdomen
- Neural tube defects such as spina bifida or anencephaly
- Limb malformation such as club foot
- Craniofacial defects, including cleft lip or cleft palate
Like children who suffer from cerebral palsy or other birth injuries, these defects can cause lifelong problems following birth. While some of these conditions can be repaired through surgery or multiple surgeries, many are permanent, leaving families to deal with lifelong medical expenses and ongoing care of a child with disabilities.
Contact Miller Weisbrod
Our firm is a nationally recognized leader in the fight to hold negligent drug manufacturers to account for failing to properly research and warn consumers of potentially harmful side effects. For more information on how to submit a claim, please contact our office in Dallas by calling 214.987.0005 for a free consultation with an experienced lawyer.
If you are calling from California, Oklahoma, Florida, New York, Oregon, Washington, D.C., or anywhere outside the DFW Metroplex, please call toll free at 888.987.0005. You may also contact us by e-mail today for more information or to schedule an appointment.
