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Zoloft may cause birth defects when a woman takes it during pregnancy. If you or a loved one has given birth to a child with a birth defect and the mother took Zoloft during pregnancy, you may be entitled to financial compensation. The same is true for drugs Wellbutrin and Zyban.
Zoloft is prescribed for many purposes. Sertraline is used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (bothersome thoughts that won’t go away and the need to perform certain actions over and over), panic attacks (sudden, unexpected attacks of extreme fear and worry about these attacks), posttraumatic stress disorder and others. Regardless of the reason of prescription, women who take this drug may experience a greater than average risk of infant child birth defects, including but not limited to heart defects, cleft palate, cleft lip, skeletal deformations and more. If your child experienced such a horrific side effect, please call our team of Zoloft lawyers today for a free case evaluation on how we can help.
Side Effects
Latest Studies Link Zoloft To Risk of Autism, Bleeding Complications
Antidepressant Zoloft, which has been subject of hundreds of birth defect lawsuits against Pfizer, may also enhance the risk of post-surgery complications in users and autism in children born to them. The FDA allowed Pfizer to market the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in 1991 and it became a top-selling drug within years. However, birth of babies with deformities to mothers, who took Zoloft during their pregnancy, led to the filing of a number of birth defect lawsuits. Researchers also found ample evidence linking the antidepressant to lung, cranial, heart, spinal vertebra, and other types of congenital defects in children born to women using the drug.
Zoloft Autism Risk
Zoloft doubles the risk of autism in children born to women treated with the antidepressant during pregnancy, according to the British Medical Journal. A report published in the April edition highlights findings by British and Swedish researchers that link Zoloft and similar SSRIs to autism spectrum disorders. The study looked at case histories of more than 4,400 autistic children and studied a control group of over 40,000 children. Researchers discovered Zoloft and similar antidepressants put mothers at a two-fold risk of giving birth to babies who would be tested for autism. The study concluded that SSRI-class antidepressants were responsible for about 0.6% of all cases of children born with autism.
Kaiser Permanente researchers made similar claims earlier in July 2011. Their research findings published in the Archives of General Psychiatry was based on an analysis of 298 cases and over 1,500 controls. Researchers concentrated on Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac, three serotonin-inhibitor antidepressants and found the risk of autism twice compared to non-serotonin inhibitor antidepressants. In August 2010, a U.S. Government-sponsored study was the first to warn about autism side effects of SSRI antidepressants.
Zoloft Side Effects and Bleeding Risk
Patients treated with Zoloft or similar SSRI antidepressants face a 10% higher risk of post-surgery complications. According to the JAMA Internal Medicine, patients taking such antidepressants are likely to suffer from excess bleeding or even death following surgery. A study published in the medical journal in April 2013 also warned of the re-hospitalization risk within 30 days of the surgery triggered by antidepressant bleeding side effects. Researchers analyzed records of over a half a million patients, who had surgeries between 2006 and 2009 in 375 hospitals across the country.
Zoloft Birth Defect Injuries
Reports of Zoloft birth defects appeared as early as 2002, a decade after millions used the SSRI antidepressant. Researchers linked the drug to a number of congenital deformities and malformations in newborns and disorders in pregnant women. In 2006, the FDA issued a warning following a huge number of complaints highlighting pulmonary hypertension in neonates caused by Zoloft side effects during pregnancy. It even forbade the use of the drug by expectant mothers beyond the 19th week of their pregnancy.
Subsequent research and post-marketing studies list the following major potential birth defects caused by Zoloft side effects during pregnancy.
- Pulmonary hypertension, ventricular septal deficiency, and defects in the heart valve
- Congenital neurological disorders
- Spina Bifida
- Brain and skull defects
- Neural tube malformations
- Congenital heart, face, and limb deformities
- Oral clefts
- Abdominal wall deformities
- Autism
- Transposition of great arteries
- Mental retardation
- Rectum malformation
According to a 2009 Zoloft side effect study published in the British Medical Journal, pregnant women taking Zoloft are twice more likely to give birth to babies with pulmonary hypertension. A 2012 Swedish study counted the risk as high as six times. These findings were echoed by a 2009 research paper made public by the British Medical Journal. The Neurology journal issued a warning in 2011 about the potential risk brain hemorrhaging because of Zoloft and similar drugs.
Zoloft Lawsuit
The number of Zoloft lawsuits against Pfizer has gone up in the recent years following enhanced consumer awareness and increased media reports highlighting its side effects. Over 500 Zoloft birth defect lawsuits filed in federal courts across the United States are centralized at the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The product liability claims by plaintiffs are primarily based on the contention that Pfizer ignored potential Zoloft side effects, including birth defects, for commercial gains.
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