› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
Patients who take a blood thinning agent, such as aspirin, after suffering a heart attack who also take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are at increased risk for bleeding, according to a Canadian study. Both types of drugs have been associated with an increased risk of bleeding, but the new analysis shows that when the drugs are combined, patients increase their risk by 40 percent or more.
When pharmaceutical companies receive reports that suggest a medication may cause birth defects, they should immediately inform the public. However, too often companies are swayed by rising profits and the fear of bad press and may withhold or cover up this information to protect themselves. It is the public that stands to suffer.
Did drug company Pfizer cover up evidence that its antidepressant Zoloft causes birth defects? Susan and James Hodge think so. Susan took Zoloft during her pregnancy and then delivered a baby who died 18 hours after birth from anencephaly, a neural tube birth defect in which a large portion of the brain is missing. The Hodges are suing Pfizer claiming the world’s largest drug company covered up studies that documented the drug was associated with the fatal side effect.
Weighing the risks and benefits of using antidepressants during pregnancy is a tough decision. For Taylor Harris, a freelance writer, she knew since she started on Paxil as a young college graduate that she would have to wean off the drug before getting pregnant. Her doctor said simply, “You won’t be able to take Paxil during your pregnancy. But don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll have something else by then.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
