Posts Tagged ‘pregnant’

GlaxoSmithKline settles case with woman who linked her use of antidepressant Paxil to the death of her infant son

Monday, July 19th, 2010

The Associated Press
By Wayne Ortman
July 19, 2010

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed against a pharmaceutical company by a Watertown woman who linked her prescribed use of Paxil to the death of her infant son, according to court files.

Jennifer Berg of Watertown sued SmithKline Beecham, doing business as GlaxoSmithKline, in October 2007. The complaint said Nathan Berg died in 2004 because of a heart disorder caused by her use of the antidepressant Paxil while she was pregnant.

The federal court lawsuit sought unspecified damages from the company for failing to warn of a link between the two. Letters from her attorneys to the presiding judge indicate there’s a settlement. No settlement documents have been filed in court.

Lawyers at a California firm handling the case for Berg did not immediately return a phone call Monday for comment.

GlaxoSmithKline said last week that it expects to take a $2.36 billion charge against second-quarter earnings for settlements, agreements to settle and other provisions for long-standing legal cases over Paxil, the diabetes drug Avandia and other issues. The company said settlement details would be confidential.

According to the lawsuit, Nathan Berg was born Aug. 20, 2004 at Watertown and was immediately transferred to a Minneapolis hospital where he died 58 days later of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN), a disorder which prevents proper oxygenation of the blood.

“At the time Paxil was prescribed to Ms. Berg, GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) knew or should have known through pre-market studies and post-market studies and reports that Paxil was associated with an increased risk of PPHN in babies whose mothers ingested Paxil during pregnancy,” according to the lawsuit.

Read entire article:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7UU4otrHhelqaJFcC3ttvwj4bYgD9H29RK00

« Return to news items

RSS News Feed

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | 1 Comment »

Prescription Drug Epidemic Spreads to Babies

Friday, July 16th, 2010

St. Petersburg Times
By Richard Martin
July 16, 2010

Dr. Mary Newport sees the symptoms more and more in the babies she treats: oddly stiff limbs, severe tremors, vomiting, diarrhea, insomnia, crying that never stops.

The common denominator: Their mothers were taking prescription drugs, mostly painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, and antianxiety drugs like Xanax during pregnancy.

Some of the moms had no idea these medications would hurt their developing babies — after all, it’s not like it’s heroin or cocaine, many think.

“They are seriously misinformed,” said Newport, medical director of Spring Hill Regional Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

The prescription drug epidemic, well documented among teens and adults, now is claiming victims before they are even born. Tampa Bay area doctors and addiction specialists are reporting a dramatic increase in the number of pregnant addicts and infants needing treatment for withdrawal from prescription drugs.

The trend is reminiscent of the “crack baby” epidemic of the 1980s, when mothers used crack cocaine during their pregnancies.

But area neonatologists say that in some ways, the current trend is worse. Some women don’t understand that prescription drugs can be dangerous during pregnancy. Others decide to stop the drugs as soon as they learn they are pregnant, causing sudden withdrawal that can lead to miscarriage.

And doctors say that treating a baby with drugs like oxycodone, methadone or Xanax in the system takes longer, and involves more medication, than treatment for heroin or cocaine.

“Babies are suffering more,” said Dr. Terri Ashmeade, medical director of Tampa General Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. “Withdrawal patterns seem to be worse (with prescription drugs) than what we were seeing with heroin.”

Note from CCHR Int: To see for yourself what psychiatric drug reactions for infants and babies have been reported to the U.S. FDA’s medwatch system (by doctors, pharmacists, consumers etc),  go to our decrypted Medwatch reports: Under the drop down menu for DRUG NAME/DRUG CLASS, scroll all the way down to the bottom until you see CLASS OF DRUGS such as ATYPICAL ANTIPSYCHOTICS or ANTIDEPRESSANTS or STIMULANTS and select one of those.   In the AGE RANGE drop down menu select 0-1 year old then click GENERATE REPORT.   You can do this for each class of psychiatric drug.  And consider this,   by the FDA’s own admission, only 1-10% of side effects are ever reported, so the actual side effects occurring in the general population are much higher.

Click here for Decrypted Medwatch Reports http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers/medwatch_psych_drug_adverse_reactions.php

Click her to read the rest of the article:  http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/article1109348.ece

« Return to news items

RSS News Feed

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

New Study—Psychiatric Drugs Cause Birth Defects— pregnant women warned about smoking/alcohol but not psychiatric drugs

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Lawyers and Settlements
By LAS Newswire
July 6, 2010

Copenhagen, Denmark: A recent Danish study found a high number of Prozac birth defects among the children of women who took the drug while pregnant.

The study, conducted by the University of Copenhagen, warns that Prozac and other psychotropic drugs can cause serious birth defects and other maladies, according to United Press International.

Researchers discovered 429 instances of adverse reactions when women took the drugs while pregnant. Of those 429 cases, more than half involved serious reactions and a number of them involved birth defects.

“We are constantly reminded about the dangers of alcohol use and smoking during pregnancy, but there is no information offered to women with regards to use of psychotropic medication,” researcher Lisa Aagaard said in a statement. “There is simply not enough knowledge available in this area.”

Researchers found that 42 percent of the reactions were linked to psychostimulants like Ritalin, 31 percent to antidepressants such as Prozac and 24 to anti-psychotics like Haldol.

Read entire article:  http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/14468/prozac-pphn-birth-defects-lawyer-3.html

« Return to news items

RSS News Feed

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Study shows antidepressants cause major increase in miscarriages (68%) yet pregnant women still being targeted for usage

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Before It’s News
June 23, 2010

This study comes on the heels of ones showing these drugs cause birth defects. But even now, regulatory agencies aren’t taking action.

Medical powers-that-be are pressing to identify women “at risk” of depression during pregnancy—likely to push them into taking anti-depressants. Now, a study has shown that SSRI and SNRI antidepressants can increase miscarriages by 68 percent. These drugs have also been associated with birth defects. Now, that is truly depressing.

A study published in the online edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal reported a 68% increase in miscarriages in women who take modern antidepressants. Paroxetine, the SSRI sold as Paxil or Seroxat, and venlafaxine, the SNRI sold as Effexor, were especially risky, and taking more than one antidepressant was also particularly dangerous.

As previously documented in Babies of Women Taking Antidepressants Born With Deformities, Dr. Anick BĂ©rard, PhD, one of the study’s authors, has also noted that antidepressants have been associated with birth defects. It shouldn’t, of course, come as any surprise that an agent guilty of causing birth defects would also result in miscarriages.

Overall, antidepressant use was found to increase the risk of miscarriage by 68%. Paroxetine increased the risk by 75% and venlafaxine more than doubled the risk to a 110% greater chance of spontaneous abortion.

In comparison, the increased risk of miscarriage due to untreated depression is 19 percent.

It’s obvious that increased miscarriage risks of 68 percent, 75 percent, and 110% with SSRI and SNRI treatment make a 19 percent increase in untreated pregnancy depression pale by comparison.

Read entire article: http://beforeitsnews.com/news/84/868/Antidepressants_Cause_Major_Increase_in_Miscarriages.html

« Return to news items

RSS News Feed

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Family sues after son born with birth defects; Mother was prescribed antidepressant while pregnant

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Sarah Boseley
guardian.co.uk
August 7, 2009

Kaden Mendoza has just turned seven. His parents, Deborah and Kevin, gave him a big party. They do it every birthday. “It is another year that he has made it through,” says Deborah.

Kaden has undergone open heart surgery three times, the first when he was nine weeks old. “We didn’t find out about Kaden’s heart condition straight away and we almost lost him,” says his mother.

The fourth chamber of his heart was not visible on the ultrasound scan she had when she was pregnant. They didn’t know it was because it was not fully developed. He was two months old when she took the baby to the doctor because he was not breastfeeding.

“His lungs were full of blood,” she says. That was on 22 September 2002. On the 24th, he was airlifted to San Francisco from their home in Washington for his first heart operation.

Throughout her pregnancy, Deborah Mendoza had been taking the antidepressant Paxil, known in the UK as Seroxat. It had been prescribed by the doctor she had seen when she had a panic attack.

Read entire article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/07/paxil-seroxat-antidepressants-glaxosmithkline

« Return to news items

RSS News Feed

Share

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »