Drugs & Medical Devices
Paxil Your Baby's Safety
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Paxil Does Its Damage to Those Pregnant, In Their First Trimester
Paxil Damages Newborns' Hearts
GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Paxil (paroxetine) have finally admitted their
drug causes serious birth defects in the hearts of babies.
While long
overdue, their admission that Paxil is dangerous for pregnant women has put
doctors and their patients on alert for birth defects, especially in the first
trimester of pregnancy.
The FDA is advising health care professionals to discuss the potential risk of birth defects with patients taking Paxil who plan to become pregnant or are in their first three months of pregnancy.
Health care professionals should consider discontinuing Paxil (and switching to another antidepressant if indicated) in these patients.
In some patients, the benefits of continuing Paxil may be greater than the potential risk to the fetus.
FDA is advising health care professionals not to prescribe Paxil in women who are in the first three months of pregnancy or are planning pregnancy, unless other treatment options are not appropriate.
The early results of two studies showed that women who took Paxil during the first three months of pregnancy were about one and a half to two times as likely to have a baby with a heart defect as women who received other antidepressants or women in the general population.
Most of the heart defects reported in these studies were atrial and ventricular septal defects (holes in the walls of the chambers of the heart).
In general, these types of defects range in severity from those that are minor and may resolve without treatment to those that cause serious symptoms and may need to be repaired surgically.
GlaxoSmithKline knew about the risk Paxil posed to unborn children, but continued to market their drug aggressively anyway.
You don't have to stand for this. If your baby was born with birth defects, especially heart defects, let the lawyers at Weitz & Luxenberg know immediately.
We can talk to you about your legal rights and let you know if you can sue GlaxoSmithKline on your baby's behalf.
You can make GSK pay for your baby's suffering and help make sure other babies are kept safe from profit-driven pharmaceuticals.
see also:
Pregnancy Risk
The Pregnancy Risks and Paxil - What You Need to Know A risk of taking Paxil during pregnancy is a high rate of birth defect
Pregnant Alert
Alert! Pregnant Women Taking Paxil May Be Putting their Baby At Risk Did you take Paxil while pregnant? Be alert to the risks to your baby
