Prozac® and Birth Defects

If you took Prozac® during your pregnancy and your baby is born with a congenital defect, you may be eligible for compensation. To schedule a free review of your case with a qualified birth defect lawyer, please contact us today.

Prozac® is an antidepressant that is prescribed to treat:

• Major depressive disorder
• Bulimia nervosa (an eating disorder)
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (a disorder in which someone feels compelled to repeat the same action over and over again or having irritating thoughts that won't go away)
• Panic disorder (sudden attacks of extreme fear and worry about the attacks)
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (disturbing symptoms that are both physical and psychological and occur on a regular basis before a female's menstrual period)

Prozac® may also be used in combination with another medication — Zyprexa® (olanzapine) — to treat manic depression or bipolar disorder. Sometimes these drugs are used together to treat depression after two other medications have been tried but been unsuccessful at treating depression.

The medication is in a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which make serotonin, a naturally occurring substance in the body, more available to the brain and help to improve mood disorders.

Prozac® and Birth Defects

When a pregnant woman takes Prozac® late in the last trimester of her pregnancy, her baby is at an increased risk for a number of newborn birth defects. Some of the conditions may require that the infant be hospitalized, tube-fed and receive respiratory support

One study showed that 30 percent of newborns who were exposed to Prozac® in the weeks before birth, had symptoms that indicated the babies were going through withdrawal from the drug. The severity of the symptoms was dose-related. Called neonatal abstinence syndrome, some of the symptoms were:

• Disturbances of the gastrointestinal system
• High-pitched crying
• Muscle tone that is too high
• Sleep problems
• Tremor

The authors of the study suggested that such babies be monitored closely for the first 48 hours after they are born.

Results from a retrospective study comparing the babies born to mothers taking Prozac® after the 20th week of pregnancy with mothers not taking the drug showed that infants who were exposed in utero (in the uterus) to SSRIs after the 20th week of pregnancy might have a six-fold higher risk of developing a condition called persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) compared to infants not exposed to the drugs. PPHN results in breathing and blood circulation problems that deprive the tissues and the organs in newborns from receiving the oxygen that they need.

Data also shows that infants exposed during their mothers' third trimester had higher rates of:

• Premature delivery
• Admission to special care nurseries
• Poor "neonatal adaptation"

The latter included breathing problems, cyanosis (blue-tinged skin) when feeding and jitteriness. The rate of minor birth defects was significantly different:

• 15.5 percent in exposed infants
• 6.5 percent in infants not exposed to Prozac®

Researchers say more studies are needed on Prozac® and pregnancy, but that the drug should be used only when the benefits outweighed the risks. This should be determined by the patient and her doctor.

Prozac® is classified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a pregnancy category C drug. Medications in this category have been shown in animal studies to harm the fetus, but no medical studies of sufficient quality have been done in humans to make a determination.

SSRIs and Birth Defects

The group of antidepressants known as SSRIs has been associated with various birth defects, including heart defects, limb malformations, head and skull defects, omphalocele and more. This is in addition to persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. Other SSRIs aside from Prozac® are Zoloft®, Lexapro®, Effexor® and Celexa®.

Contact a Prozac® Birth Defect Lawyer

If you were given Prozac® or another type of antidepressant during your pregnancy and your baby is born with a birth defect such as PPHN, you should talk to a birth defect lawyer about your right to financial compensation. Our birth defect lawyers have experience in cases involving drug-related birth defects and would like to help you. Contact us to schedule a free review of your case.