New Study to Show Prozac, Paxil Birth Defects Worse Than Thought

The study will be published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry and will show that Paxil and Prozac carry a greater risk of birth defects with even more serious conditions and “major malformations.” Paxil, in particular, showed an increased risk of “cardiac malformations.”

Paxil is part of a class of anti-depressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). Other SSRI antidepressants include Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, Luvox and Zoloft. They have already been linked to serious birth defects in the children of mothers who take them during pregnancy.

The malformations linked to Paxil include neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida, craniofacial defects and cardiovascular malformations, as well as a serious newborn lung condition called persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN).

In July 2006, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration issued a statement saying that it was “asking sponsors of all SSRIs to change prescribing information to describe the potential risk for PPHN.”

The announcement was based on a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine that found that “PPHN was six times more common in babies whose mothers took an SSRI antidepressant after the 20th week of the pregnancy compared to babies whose mothers did not take an antidepressant.”

The lung disease is very serious and can be life threatening to newborn babies.

“PPHN occurs when a newborn baby does not adapt to breathing outside the womb,” the FDA said in a statement released in 2011 about “conflicted findings” of Paxil and SSRI side effects in newborn babies. “Newborns with PPHN may require intensive care support including a mechanical ventilator to increase their oxygen level. If severe, PPHN can result in multiple organ damage, including brain damage, and even death.”

The Therapeutic Drug Monitoring journal published a study in 2012 that also looked at the birth defect side effects associated with SSRI drugs such as Paxil (this particular study focused on Zoloft) and found increased risks of “omphalocele [when major organs grow outside of the body], anal atresia [when the anus is either not present or in the wrong place], limb-reduction defects [in which part or all of a limb fails to completely form], cardiac septal defects [when there is a hole in the septum, allowing blood to flow between the left and right atrium — leading to poorly oxygenated blood] and anencephaly [in which the baby is born without parts of the brain and skull].”

Another study published this year from Sweden showed that babies who were exposed to Paxil and other SSRI antidepressants in utero had “an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders.”

If you or anyone you know has had a child develop birth defects or experienced other negative side effects after being exposed to Paxil or other SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy, legal options are available to you. Learn more and get a free legal consultation regarding a claim’s eligibility at the Zoloft & SSRI Antidepressant Birth Defect Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Experienced legal professionals have access to medical experts to assess whether or not this antidepressant played a role in the development of a serious birth defect in your child, so act now.