Seizure drugs Topamax, Depakote also cause birth defects

It’s not just antidepressants which can cause birth defect injuries. Two seizure drugs also can cause pain and misery to unsuspecting American families when the mother uses such a drug during pregnancy. And those two drugs are Depakote and Topamax.

Each can be prescribed to fight epilepsy and migraine headaches. Yet neither is safe for the unborn children of women who are pregnant when they take the seizure drug. In fact, if taken in her first trimester, such drugs greatly increase the dangers of her child suffering a debilitating birth defect injury.

Among such possible seizure drug side effects is spina bifida. It involves the infant’s spinal canal and backbone failing to close properly before birth. If a pregnant woman takes Depakote, her child will have a risk more than 10 times greater of having such a birth defect.

Another seizure drug side effect impacting the heart is an atrial septal defect. That means the wall between the atria, or the heart’s upper chambers, doesn’t close up fully. Again, Depakote use during pregnancy greatly heightens the risks. In fact, an atrial septal defect is five times more likely to occur for children borne by women who take Depakote while pregnant.

Other seizure drug side effects include cleft palate of cleft lip, in which the child’s palate or lip do not join fully. The seizure drug called Topamax increases this risk. In fact, the same drug also raises the risk of a baby boy have deformed genitalia.

Who makes these defective drugs? Depakote comes from Abbott Laboratories, while Topamax is made by enormous pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.

Though that’s a long-established “name” brand, don’t be fooled. Users should know that Johnson & Johnson often is caught doing improper things. Recently it paid $81 million as a fine for illegally promoting Topamax as a drug for psychiatric use -- a use for which it had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Is it so surprising that innocent babies are suffering due to such a defective seizure drug?

The FDA isn’t the only agency or group warning against pregnant women using seizure drugs. The North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry cites their dangers also.

In the sad event that these warnings don’t reach some families and birth defects ensue, at least these families have a legal right to justice. They can secure a defective drug lawyer to guide their case toward a successful resolution.

Such a defective drug lawyer or birth defect lawyer can come from the attorney group SRI-Birth-Defect.com. He or she can assist victims in gaining financial compensation for their medical expenses, pain and suffering and lost wages ensuing due to birth defect injuries caused by defective seizure drugs.

Send us the free case review form above, or call toll-free to 1-800-519-4411, and get a birth defect lawyer on your side. And don’t delay. Your state’s statute of limitations may impact your case. The sooner the better is the time to begin and ask for our help.

And you’ll never pay us. Our attorneys are paid only from the settlement if your case prevails in your favor. You will never write us a check. You will only get a chance to secure justice for your family.