This table lists the Abortions, Miscarriages and Other Deaths reported to the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (MedWatch) between 2004 and the 2nd Quarter of 2008 where the listed psychiatric drug was identified as the Primary Suspect Drug (FDA's term) deemed responsible for the Abortion, Miscarriage or Death.
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| Anti-Anxiety | Atarax (hydroxyzine) | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | ||
| Ativan, Tavor (lorazepam) | 8 | 2 | 10 | |||||
| BuSpar (buspirone) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Klonopin, Solfidin (clonazepam) | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 30 | ||
| Librax (chlordiazepoxide) | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Prazepam (prazepam) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Tranxene (clorazepate) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Valium (diazepam) | 4 | 2 | 6 | |||||
| Xanax (alprazolam) | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | |||
| Anti-Anxiety Totals | 60 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 77 | ||
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| Antidepressants | Anafranil (clomipramine) | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Desyrel (trazodone) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Elavil (amitriptyline) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Ludiomil (maprotiline) | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Prothiaden (dothiepin) | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Remeron (mirtazapine) | 13 | 1 | 14 | |||||
| Tofranil (imipramine) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Wellbutrin, Zyban (bupropion) | 95 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 109 | ||
| Antidepressant Totals | 117 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 133 | |
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| Antipsychotics | Haldol (haloperidol) | 6 | 6 | |||||
| Stelazine (trifluoperazine) | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Antipsychotic Totals | 8 | 8 | ||||||
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| Atypical Antipsychotics | Abilify (aripiprazole) | 50 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 61 | ||
| Clozaril (clozapine) | 8 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||||
| Geodon, Zeldox (ziprasidone) | 8 | 1 | 9 | |||||
| Risperdal (risperidone) | 32 | 1 | 1 | 34 | ||||
| Seroquel (quetiapine) | 25 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 32 | |||
| Zyprexa (olanzapine) | 21 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 41 | |
| Atypical Antipsychotic Totals | 144 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 10 | 2 | 188 | |
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| Hypnotics | Ambien, Stilnox (zolpidem) | 8 | 3 | 6 | 17 | |||
| Dalmadorm (flurazepam) | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Halcion (triazolam) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Lunesta (eszopiclone) | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Hypnotic Totals | 13 | 3 | 6 | 22 | ||||
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| Neuroleptics | Orap (pimozide) | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Phenergan (promethazine) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | ||||
| Reglan (metoclopramide) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | ||||
| Neuroleptic Totals | 9 | 2 | 8 | 19 | ||||
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| NRIs | Strattera (atomoxetine) | 7 | 2 | 2 | 11 | |||
| NRI Totals | 7 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||||
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| SNRIs | Cymbalta, Yenteve (duloxetine) | 31 | 1 | 32 | ||||
| Effexor (venlafaxine) | 64 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 92 | |
| Serzone (nefazodone) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| SNRI Totals | 95 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 125 | |
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| SSRIs | Celexa (citalopram) | 41 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 57 |
| Cipralex, Lexapro (escitalopram) | 36 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 47 | |
| Luvox (fluvoxamine) | 5 | 1 | 6 | |||||
| Paxil, Seroxat (paroxetine) | 104 | 39 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 174 | |
| Prozac (fluoxetine) | 45 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 52 | |||
| Zoloft (sertraline) | 57 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 87 | ||
| SSRI Totals | 288 | 48 | 16 | 37 | 30 | 4 | 423 | |
| Class | Drug Name | Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total |
| Stimulants | Adderall (amphetamine) | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Concerta, Ritalin (methylphenidate) | 16 | 1 | 17 | |||||
| Didrex (benzphetamine) | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Provigil (modafinil) | 4 | 4 | ||||||
| Stimulant Totals | 24 | 1 | 25 | |||||
| Abortions & Miscarriages | Deaths | Deaths Neonatal | Intra-Uterine Deaths | Stillbirths | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome | Total | ||
| Grand Totals (reported) | 765 | 60 | 31 | 107 | 57 | 11 | 1,031 | |
| Grand Totals x 10 (conservative estimate of actual totals) * | 7,650 | 600 | 310 | 1,070 | 570 | 110 | 10,310 | |
The above Abortions & Miscarriages figures are comprised of the tallies of fourteen different Adverse Reactions appearing in the MedWatch reports. Here are their definitons, followed by a table showing the individual component sums:
| Aborted Pregnancy | See Abortion. |
| Abortion | An abortion is the ending of a pregnancy before the fetus is developed sufficiently to survive outside of the uterus. The abortions reported in MedWatch are natural (miscarriages) or deliberate (induced). |
| Abortion Early | An early abortion is an abortion that occurs before the 12th completed week of gestation (84 days). |
| Abortion Incomplete | In an incomplete abortion, parts of the fetus or placental material stay inside the uterus. |
| Abortion Induced | When a procedure (surgery or medication) is done to expel the fetus from the uterus it is called an induced abortion. |
| Abortion Late | A late abortion is an abortion that occurs after the 12th completed week but before the 20th week of gestation (85-134 days). |
| Abortion Missed | A missed abortion is the in utero (within the uterus) death of the embryo or fetus before the 20th week of gestation with retained products of conception. |
| Abortion of Ectopic Pregnancy | An ectopic pregnancy occurs outside the uterus and the fetus cannot survive. |
| Abortion Spontaneous | Miscarriage means loss of an embryo or fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. Most miscarriages occur during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The medical term for miscarriage is spontaneous abortion. |
| Abortion Spontaneous Complete | A miscarriage in which all products of conception (fetus and placenta) are expelled from the uterus. |
| Abortion Spontaneous Complicated | A miscarriage complicated by excessive hemorrhage, genital tract and pelvic infection, shock, etc. |
| Abortion Spontaneous Incomplete | A miscarriage where parts of the fetus or placental material stay inside the uterus. |
| Blighted Ovum | A blighted ovum (also know as "anembryonic pregnancy") happens when a fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, but the embryo does not develop [an - without + embryonic - embryo]. It is usually the result of chromosomal problems. A woman's body recognizes abnormal chromosomes in a fetus and naturally does not try to continue the pregnancy because the fetus will not develop into a normal, healthy baby. [link] |
| Embryo | An embryo is an unborn human in the first eight weeks from conception. |
| Fetus | A fetus is an unborn human more than eight weeks after conception. |
| Habitual Abortion | The miscarriage of three or more consecutive pregnancies. |
| Drug Class | Aborted Pregnancy | Abortion | Abortion Early | Abortion Incomplete | Abortion Induced | Abortion Late | Abortion Missed | Abortion of Ectopic Pregnancy | Abortion Spontaneous | Abortion Spontaneous Complete | Abortion Spontaneous Complicated | Abortion Spontaneous Incomplete | Blighted Ovum | Habitual Abortion | Total |
| Anti-Anxiety | 4 | 14 | 1 | 40 | 1 | 60 | |||||||||
| Antidepressants | 1 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 85 | 1 | 117 | ||||||||
| Antipsychotics | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Atypical Antipsychotics | 1 | 11 | 3 | 27 | 4 | 94 | 1 | 3 | 144 | ||||||
| Hypnotics | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 | |||||||||||
| Neuroleptics | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | |||||||||||
| NRIs | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| SNRIs | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 72 | 1 | 95 | ||||||||
| SSRIs | 10 | 2 | 1 | 89 | 1 | 10 | 174 | 1 | 288 | ||||||
| Stimulants | 4 | 1 | 19 | 24 | |||||||||||
| Totals | 1 | 29 | 3 | 4 | 183 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 509 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 765 |
| Aborted Pregnancy | Abortion | Abortion Early | Abortion Incomplete | Abortion Induced | Abortion Late | Abortion Missed | Abortion of Ectopic Pregnancy | Abortion Spontaneous | Abortion Spontaneous Complete | Abortion Spontaneous Complicated | Abortion Spontaneous Incomplete | Blighted Ovum | Habitual Abortion | Total |
MedWatch is the Food and Drug Administration's program for reporting any undesirable experience associated with the use of a medical product. If you think you or someone in your family has experienced an adverse reaction from taking a psychiatric medication and it has not been reported to the FDA, see this page for instructions on reporting the adverse event through your doctor or directly to the FDA using an online form.
* A May 2006 USA Today article states "drug companies are required to file any reports they have to the FDA, but consumers and doctors report such events on a voluntary basis. Studies suggest the FDA's Adverse Events Reporting System database captures only 1% to 10% of drug-induced side effects and deaths, "maybe even less than 1%," says clinical pharmacologist Alastair J.J. Wood, an associate dean at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville. So the real number of cases is almost certainly much higher".
And this article where Jerry Phillips, Associate Director of the FDA's Office of Post Marketing Drug Risk Assessment in March of 2000 is quoted as saying: "In the broader area of adverse drug reaction data, the 250,000 reports received annually probably represent only 5% of the actual reactions that occur."