Blood pressure pill doubles risk of birth defects
Some blood pressure drugs previously thought to be safe when taken early in pregnancy now appear to substantially raise the risk of major birth defects, doctors say.
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Some blood pressure drugs previously thought to be safe when taken early in pregnancy now appear to substantially raise the risk of major birth defects, doctors say.
The parents of a two-year old boy have filed a lawsuit against the maker of Paxil, alleging that the mother’s use of the antidepressant during pregnancy cause her son to be born with severe heart defects.
Decisions about how to treat depression in pregnant women are increasingly complex. Patients and physicians must carefully consider and discuss together the potential benefits and risks of treatment with antidepressants during pregnancy. Two new studies provide important information to be considered in making such decisions. The studies included women who had been treated with antidepressant drugs that act as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or, in a few cases, other antidepressants. SSRI medications are the most commonly used drugs to treat depression in the U.S.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that early research studies with the drug Paxil (paroxetine) suggest that taking the drug during the first three months of pregnancy may increase a woman’s risk of having a baby with birth defects, particularly heart defects.
The Food and Drug Administration today is alerting health care professionals and patients about early results of new studies for Paxil (paroxetine) suggesting that the drug increases the risk for birth defects, particularly heart defects, when women take it during the first three months of pregnancy. Paxil is approved for the treatment of depression and several other psychiatric disorders. FDA is currently gathering additional data and waiting for the final results of the recent studies in order to better understand the higher risk for birth defects that has been seen with Paxil.
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that the warning label on GlaxoSmithKline’s widely-prescribed anxiety drug Paxil has again been revised to advise the drug may cause heart defects in babies.
Preliminary study data suggest that the antidepressant paroxetine should not be prescribed to pregnant women.
The FDA and the drug company GlaxoSmithKline are alerting doctors about a new study on major birth defects seen in babies born to women who took the antidepressant Paxil during the first trimester of pregnancy.