Zoloft Side Effects

Antidepressant Medication Zoloft Linked To Birth Defects

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Zoloft side effects may place babies who were exposed to the drug before birth at an increased risk of developing heart and respiratory defects. SSRI medications, including Zoloft, have been linked to serious risks for newborn babies. If you have taken Zoloft, or any other SSRI medication, and feel that you or a loved one has been harmed as a result, you may want to speak with a personal injury attorney regarding a possible lawsuit.

Zoloft (sertraline) is an antidepressant drug and is also used for the treatment of:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Panic disorder
• Social anxiety disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Pfizer manufactures Zoloft, which became an FDA approved drug in December of 1991. Zoloft is in the class of antidepressants called selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs block the uptake of serotonin and, in turn, provide higher levels of serotonin at the brain receptor site. Research has indicated that serious side effects are associated with Zoloft.

It is known that there is a link between SSRIs and congenital malformations, including cardiac malformations. One study conducted in Denmark indicated that the risk of a pregnant woman giving birth to a baby with birth defects was increased in women who has SSRI prescriptions filled in the 30 days before conception through the end of the first trimester as compared to women who had not had SSRI prescriptions filled.

A February 2006 report in the New England Journal of Medicine noted that infants whose mothers took SSRIs after the 20th week of pregnancy were six times more likely to have Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN) than babies whose mothers did not take the drug.

In July 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also alerted consumers and Healthcare professionals about an increased risk of PPHN associated with the drug Zoloft. PPHN is a life-threatening disorder and occurs when a newborn’s circulation system does not adapt to breathing outside the womb. The amount of blood flow to the lungs, and therefore the amount of oxygen into the bloodstream, becomes limited in newborns with PPHN. Babies with PPHN often experience respiratory failure and require mechanical assistance for ventilation. Ten to twenty percent of infants with PPHN will end up dying even if they receive treatment.

Additionally, Zoloft has been linked to septal heart defects, which are defects in the wall dividing the right and left ventricles of the heart, or holes in the wall between the two upper heart chambers (left and right atria), and omphalocele (an abdominal wall defect) in newborns.

PLEASE SPEAK WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE DISCONTINUING USE OF ZOLOFT OR ANY OTHER PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION.

Contact the Law Offices of d'Oliveria & Associates, P.C.

If you believe that you or a loved one has been taking the antidepressant Zoloft and has suffered as a result, you may want to speak with a personal injury attorney today, regarding your potential lawsuit. An injury lawyer familiar with new developments in the investigation of Zoloft may be able to help you make important personal and legal decisions.

Please contact the law offices of d'Oliveira & Associates at 1-800-992-6878 or fill out a contact form for a free legal consultation.