Effexor (Venlafaxine) Doubles Risk of Miscarriage in Pregnant Women

Adding to the growing list of worries associated with antidepressants, a new study has found that the risk of miscarriage is significantly higher in women who take SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and SNRI (serotonin-nonrepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants, such as Effexor, early in their pregnancies.

According to a May 31, 2010 study published online in the Canadian Medical Association Journal by scientists at the University of Montreal, women who take antidepressants like Effexor, Lexapro, Celexa, Prozac and Zoloft during the first trimester of their pregnancy were significantly more likely to miscarry than women who did not take antidepressants. Researchers found that the risk associated with miscarriage was 68 percent higher in women who used the drugs. The researchers also found that Effexor was among the antidepressants which carried the highest risk.

Researchers took data from the Quebec Pregnancy Registry. They studied pregnancies since 1997 and compared women who miscarried in their 20th week with women who did not lose their babies early in the pregnancy. The results showed that the risk of miscarriage nearly doubled with the use of venlaxafine (Effexor). The data has led researchers to warn that the use of antidepressants, especially venlaxafine, should be used with extreme caution during pregnancy.

The miscarriages may be related to malformations of essential organs. Effexor birth defect attorney, Nicole Maldonado, represents many families whose children were born with birth defects to mother’s who took Effexor, venlafaxine or Pristiq during their pregnancies.  Her clients’ birth defects range from heart defects, lung defects, craniosynostosis (abnormally shaped skull), infant omphalocele (abdominal wall defects), club foot, and cleft lip and cleft palate.

According to Ms. Maldonado, whose law firm, Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, has represented more clients in antidepressant injury cases than any other law firm in the United States, said that, “Women who take antidepressants like Effexor while pregnant are unknowingly putting their unborn babies at risk.  Instead of experiencing the normal joys of child rearing, my clients are trying to save their babies lives.”

Venlafaxine has also been shown to increase the risk of developmental delays in babies.

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 SSRI antidepressants since 2005, and their capability of causing birth defects.

Recent research has linked prenatal exposure to antidepressants with developmental milestone delays in early childhood.

The study, published in the March 2010 issue of Pediatrics, found associations between exposure to antidepressants in late pregnancy and prolonged motor developmental milestones at six and 19 months of age. Effexor was one of the antidepressants that was listed in the study.

The Study

The participants of the study were obtained from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Out of 904 pregnant women who reported depression, 415 used antidepressant medication, including the antidepressant Effexor, and 489 did not. Researchers then compared certain developmental milestones between the children of those women who took the drugs during pregnancy, and those who did not.

The Results

According to researchers, children exposed to antidepressants in the womb took 16 days longer to sit without support and nearly a month longer to walk compared to children who were not prenatally exposed to the medication. Although the delay is still within the range of normal development, researchers noted that the data “may suggest that human fetal brain development is susceptible to antidepressant exposure.” Results also show that boys, in particular, are susceptible to this risk.

Researchers also found that fewer children exposed to the antidepressants were able to occupy themselves for 15 minutes at 19 months of age than those whose mothers did not take the drug.

The researchers concluded that “The results of our study suggest an effect of antidepressants exposure on fetal brain development” and added that longer follow-up monitoring of the children is necessary in order to further understand the clinical and public health implications of the results.

Read the BusinessWeek article on the study

Effexor and Pristiq Linked to Increased Risk of Violence

According to an Institute for Safe Medication Practices study published in the journal PloS One and based on data from the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System, Venlafaxine (Effexor) is 8.3 times more likely than other drugs to be related to violent behavior.  Effexor has been identified as one of 31 drugs that are disproportionately linked with reports of violent behavior towards others.

The antidepressant Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq), is 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs according to the same study.

Time.com
Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence.

Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence Towards Others
Public Library of Sciencepublished
December 15, 2010.