Sophie Borland
Daily Mail
August 8, 2009

GPs are still prescribing an antidepressant known to cause birth defects in unborn children to thousands of women every year, it emerged last night.

Pills such as Seroxat may result in babies being born with malformed hearts if taken in the first few weeks of pregnancy – a time when many women are still unaware they may have conceived.

Several scientific studies have suggested that the class of drugs known as SSRIs, which also includes Prozac, could double the rate of birth defects.

Seroxat is believed to be prescribed to 4 million people in Britain a year and it has been particularly marketed towards women as a drug to relieve anxiety and depression.

But both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) watchdogs have warned of the drug’s potential dangers and urged GPs not to prescribe them to pregnant women unless completely necessary.

Last night leading doctors warned that the pills were still being routinely handed out to mothers-to-be and women of a childbearing age without warning of the risks.

Read entire article:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205149/GPs-handing-antidepressants-linked-birth-defects.html