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

Clinical trials testing experimental and currently marketed pharmaceutical drugs help determine the medication’s safety and efficacy. This information is vital to policy makers and doctors, who generally read about these studies in peer-reviewed medical journals. But only a fraction of data from these clinical trails is ever published, a travesty that both “distorts scientific record” and puts patients lives at risk, the British Medical Journal warns.

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“Has anyone had a healthy baby who took antidepressants while pregnant?”

It was the question posed recently on BabyCenter.com, a website resource for expectant mothers, new mothers, and women hoping to become pregnant in the near future. The question sparked numerous responses from women who were faced with making that decision. Some women commented that they needed the medication because they struggled with severe depression and anxiety. But they still worry about the effects the drug may have on their unborn babies.

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According to a recent study, nearly 75 percent of all antidepressants were prescribed to patients without documented psychiatric conditions by non-psychiatrists in 2007, raising a host of concerns including the potential for patients to suffer serious side effects from the drugs that could put their unborn children at risk.

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News of frustrating and sometimes serious side effects to antidepressants can be enough to motivate one to wean oneself off the medication. New reports show SSRIs have been linked to suicidal thoughts, a Parkinsons-like condition known as Tardive Dyskinesia, and serious birth defects in infants born to women who took SSRIs during pregnancy. But coming off antidepressants is not always easy and if done improperly can cause uncomfortable withdrawal effects, also known as SSRI discontinuation syndrome.

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