Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

The number of children in the United States enrolled in special education programs for autism spectrum disorders has increased from 22,664 in 2004 to 193,637 in 2005. Coincidentally, between 1996 and 2005, the number of Americans taking antidepressants nearly doubled to about 10 percent of the population. This relationship alone had some researchers wondering if there might be a link between the two different statistics. Now, a new study supports that assumption.

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Pregnant women carry a huge responsibility. Everything thing they do or ingest could potentially affect their unborn child. But when the mother is experiencing health problems that can be treated by medication, she has only to go by the advice of her doctor and the information provided by the drug company that makes the medication.

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A Cleveland, Ohio, couple is suing the makers of the antidepressant Zoloft, alleging use of the drug during pregnancy caused their newborn baby to die shortly after birth from a serious birth defect of the brain and spinal cord. Susan and James Hodge filed the lawsuit against Pfizer and Cardinal Health in Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas, alleging the drug companies knew the antidepressant could cause fatal neural tube birth defects but covered up studies that documented the dangers.

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Recent studies have shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may cause birth defects in developing fetuses. Now a new study suggests the antidepressants may be dangerous to the elderly as well.

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Amery Schultz thought he was rocking his newborn baby boy to sleep in his arms, but instead, the baby was taking his last breaths. “Imagine … watching your child die before your eyes, very traumatically,” Schultz told CBC News. “We still relieve it every day.”

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Women who discontinue their antidepressants during pregnancy are at no greater risk for becoming depressed during pregnancy or after delivery than they would have been if they stayed on the medication throughout pregnancy, according to a new study published online and scheduled to appear in the November issue of the journal Epidemiology. The research offers a glimmer of good news to women who take antidepressants in light of new studies that show use of some types of antidepressants can cause serious birth defects if used during pregnancy.

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Babies born to mothers who took a type of antidepressant during pregnancy are more likely to reach developmental milestones late, according to a Danish study published in the journal Pediatrics. The study raises more concerns about selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and its affect on fetuses.

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About $1 billion has been paid out by drug maker GlaxoSmithKline to resolve “failure to warn” lawsuits over its popular antidepressant Paxil. The lawsuits include cases of birth defects, suicides, and addiction allegedly caused by the medication.

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Pregnant women who take certain types of antidepressants are at greater risk for preterm delivery or other birth complications, according to a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The findings add more fuel to the argument that antidepressants not be prescribed to pregnant women and women of childbearing age unless absolutely necessary.

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Another drug from a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is being called out by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of serious injuries. Celexa, or citalopram hydrobromide, a drug used to treat major depression and off-label to treat various anxiety disorders, has been linked to potentially life threatening heart rhythms when used at higher doses. The FDA’s recent communication adds more concern about the safety of a type of drug that some argue is too heavily prescribed. Among the other concerns about SSRIs is their effect on unborn children when taken by pregnant women.

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