Newer-generation epilepsy medications like Neurontin can be a godsend to a person suffering from epilepsy who doesn’t respond to older drugs. However, there are suspicions that this drug could cause serious birth defects.

Older classes of anticonvulsants often had serious sedative effects as they worked by trying to slow down parts of the brain associated with seizures. However, newer generation drugs are more specific. But they still carry the risk of serious Neurontin side effects, including the possibility of Neurontin birth defects.

According to a public information page by Stanford University, animal studies suggest that drugs like Neurontin could cause serious birth defects. However, human studies of pregnant women and their children have been scarce.

Additionally, the Stanford page states that human studies have found a link between birth defects and other newer-generation seizure drugs similar to Neurontin. On the other hand, a Danish study concluded that researchers could find no link between Neurontin and birth defects.

However, the Danes’ study mostly looked at other seizure drugs. While they did have some patients who used gabapentin (the generic name for Neurontin) during pregnancy, they only had 59 subjects in this category.

Additionally, pregnant women taking drugs like Neurontin may find themselves between a rock and a hard place. When a patient stops taking an anticonvulsant like Neurontin, they risk “rebounding” seizures, having an increased risk of serious seizures, which can harm both mother and child. As such, it is up to a patient and her doctors to decide if the risk of seizures outweighs the risk of Neurontin side effects.

However, the legal system and medical science have slightly different ways of looking at the cause of birth defects. Sometimes, this means that the court system has a lower standard of evidence than medical science, and allegations of Neurontin birth defects may stand a greater chance of being recognized by a court than a research paper.

Additionally, it may be alleged in court that the makers of drugs like Neurontin promoted the drug for use among women of childbearing years, despite a lack of evidence for its safety in this at-risk group of patients.