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. 

We represent hundreds of families across the nation whose babies were born with birth defects after the mother took an antidepressant during pregnancy. Mothers who have taken antidepressants such as Effexor or Pristiq during their pregnancy because they thought it was safe have given birth to babies with birth defects ranging from cleft lip to life-threatening congenital heart defects and, in some cases, the babies have been required to get full heart transplants.

Our legal team consists of 10 attorneys from two prestigious law firms who have more experience handling antidepressant birth defect cases than any other firm in the country. Through our litigation and consultation with medical experts, we are establishing the link between Effexor and Pristiq and the following congenital defects and/or conditions:

• Abdominal Birth Defects / Omphalocele
• Anal atresia (complete or partial closure of the anus)
• Cardiac (heart) defects
• Cleft lip and cleft palate
• Clubfoot (one or both feet turn downward and inward)
• Craniosynostosis (skull defect)
• Limb Defects
• Neural-tube defects (brain and spinal cord, spina bifida)
• PPHN (Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn)

If you have taken Effexor or Pristiq while pregnant and given birth to a child with a serious birth defect, you may be entitled to compensation.

Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman and Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis, Inc. are recognized preeminent plaintiff firms in the forefront of antidepressant litigation. Our attorneys have successfully handled over 3,000 SSRI-antidepressant cases in the past two decades.

Both firms have many years of experience handling pharmaceutical product liability, mass tort litigation and consumer class actions against major drug companies.  Please contact our firm if your baby was born with a birth defect and you took an antidepressant like Effexor or Pristiq during your pregnancy.