Finnish Study Links SSRI Use to Heart Defects in Newborns

Is your baby suffering from a heart defect? If you took an antidepressant such as Prozac, Zoloft, Cymbalta or Paxil during your pregnancy, you may have a Texas dangerous drugs claim.

Up to 20 percent of women experience depression or anxiety during pregnancy. These conditions are often treated with antidepressants known as Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors or SSRI. Unfortunately, use of SSRIs in pregnancy has been linked to several dangerous birth defects. A new study links suggests these antidepressants cause congenital heart defects in infants.

Researchers from Finland published a study in the July issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology that provides additional evidence linking the use of antidepressants known as SSRIs to birth defects, especially heart abnormalities. The doctors participating in the study analyzed data collected in the Finnish nationwide birth registry from 1996 to 2006. The data covered 635,583 births; 6,979 of the infants were exposed to SSRIs during the first trimester of pregnancy. The study found that women who take SSRIs during early pregnancy are twice as likely to deliver babies with isolated ventricular septal defects and four times more likely to deliver babies with right ventricular outflow tract defects.

While the risk of either type of heart defect is small, the study confirms and supports the results of numerous other studies linking SSRI use to birth defects. The researchers say the increased risk is enough for doctors to use caution and avoid prescribing SSRIs to women who are pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant.

If your baby is suffering from a heart defect. Let Dallas SSRI birth defect attorney Kay Van Wey help you get the compensation you need to help your child. Contact Van Wey Law at 800-489-5082 to learn if you have a Texas drugs side effects claim.