Effexor® and Birth Defects

Antidepressants such as Effexor and Pristiq may cause birth defects in newborns, according to information which has been emerging since 2005. 

Data from various international studies show that some antidepressants may cause birth defects.  The FDA has issued warnings about certain antidepressants since 2005, and their capability of causing birth defects. 

Because SSRIs have a similar side effect profile generally, we are investigating whether or not other antidepressants, such as Effexor and Pristiq, cause the same birth defects. We represent many families whose children have heart birth defects where their mothers were on an antidepressant, such as Celexa, Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac or Zoloft, during pregnancy.

Some of the birth defects our clients’ children have include:

• Cardiac (heart) defects
• Pulmonary (lung) defects
• Neural-tube defects (brain and spinal cord)
• Craniosynostosis (abnormally shaped skull)
• Infant omphalocele (abdominal wall defects)
• Club foot (one or both feet turn downward and inward)
• Anal atresia (complete or partial closure of the anus)
• Cleft lip and cleft palate

Baum Hedlund is investigating whether other antidepressant drugs, such as Effexor and Pristiq, cause these birth defects as well.

Baum Hedlund is in the forefront of the antidepressant litigation and has handled over 3,000 antidepressant cases in the past 20 years involving antidepressants such as Prozac,and Zoloft. The firm is recognized as a preeminent plaintiff firm that handles serious personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits across the nation including cases stemming from pharmaceutical drug products liability. Baum Hedlund has an active role in the fight against major antidepressant drug companies and the FDA's attempts to stop antidepressant and other pharmaceutical litigation and has been very successful in beating preemption in many state and federal courts.

Because Baum Hedlund has been representing victims of antidepressants in personal injury and wrongful death cases for 20 years, we have seen, first hand, the harm antidepressants can cause and we are extremely motivated by our clients’ tragic stories. In our representation of our clients, we dig deep into drug company files to discover the truth about what the company knew about the drug’s risks, when the company knew of those risks and what efforts, if any, the company took to hide those risks. Only through legal action can anyone gain access to this information. We fight hard to get this information into the public domain to prevent others from having to endure similar tragedies.