Additional Zoloft Heart Defects in Infants
Recent studies have highlighted the link between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant drugs and severe heart, lung facial and skeletal birth defects in infants of mothers who took the drugs.Many mothers, however, are not sure if their child’s condition may have been caused by the SSRI drug they took. More information is now available on the risks of Zoloft birth defects and Zoloft heart defects.
Zoloft lawyers are now filing Zoloft birth defect lawsuits on behalf of those injured by the severe side effects of the drug. It is important to speak with a qualified lawyer as soon as possible to learn about your legal options to protect your child.
Studies have now shown a link between SSRI drugs like Zoloft and heart defects such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). HLHS is a condition that develops before or during birth characterized by a failure of the left side of the heart to completely develop.
Zoloft hypoplastic left heart syndrome is caused when the left portion of the heart including the left ventricle, mitral valve, aorta and aortic valve fail to fully develop in an infant. This leads to problems with the heart’s ability to adequately supply blood and oxygen to the body.
The symptoms of HLHS in children can include a bluish tone to the skin (cyanosis), ecstatic heart beat, rapid or irregular breathing, shortness of breath, weak pulse and cold hands or feet.
Zoloft heart defects like HLHS can take several major surgeries to fix which cause significant complications to the lives of young children and cause immeasurable suffering to families trying to care for them.
In addition, the medical expenses associated with complicated heart procedures can be substantial. If the condition was caused by the mother taking an SSRI medication during pregnancy, the family may be entitled to significant damages from the company at fault.
Legal experts believe that the companies who manufacture popular SSRI antidepressant drugs may have known that their products raised the risks of severe birth defects such as HLHS but did not provide sufficient warnings to patients.
If you took an SSRI drug like Paxil, Zoloft or Prozac and gave birth to a child with birth defects, it is important that you speak with a qualified Zoloft lawyer today to learn whether you can file a Zoloft lawsuit to help with the medical bills, other damages and your child’s pain and suffering.
New Diabetes Pill
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and AstraZeneca Plc. (AZN)’s new diabetes pill will probably face increased scrutiny from regulators and doctors after two rivals were tied to cancer and heart risks.The drug, dapagliflozin, works differently than Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s Actos, linked to cancer last week, and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK)’s Avandia, tied to heart risks in 2007. While those drugs adjust the hormone that regulates sugar, the new pill helps patients excrete sugar through their urine.
“Increasingly, people are on the lookout for problems with these drugs,” said Laurence Kennedy, chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s department of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, in a telephone interview. “There will always be a market for finding newer and different ways to help control blood sugar, but the newest ways will be under increasing scrutiny.”
Some analysts say they won’t project sales for dapagliflozin because of the risks posed by Avandia and Actos. Even if approved after a regulatory panel next month, doctors say they will be slow in using the new drug until more is known about long-term safety. A one-year study reported last year found no cancer or heart risks. Two years of data will be reported June 26 at the American Diabetes Association meeting.
Claims Against GlaxoSmithKline
A health insurance carrier is entitled to names and information identifying its insureds who have sued a pharmaceutical manufacturer, a Philadelphia judge has ruled on an issue of first impression.Health insurer UnitedHealth Group plans to assert subrogation claims against drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline by stepping into the shoes of its insureds who took GSK's Paxil and Avandia drugs and suing GSK over the alleged injuries its insureds experienced by taking those drugs, the June 16 opinion said.
Improperly Marketed Drug
British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC improperly marketed the diabetes drug Avandia to South Carolina consumers, hiding the medication's harmful side effects, according to a lawsuit filed by the state's top prosecutor.A spokeswoman for the company, however, said GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK - news - people ) supports both its drug and the ways in which it was marketed.
Bladder Cancer Risk
Patients taking the diabetes drug Actos for more than a year may have an increased risk of bladder cancer, according to an FDA interim review of an ongoing epidemiological study.The warning comes just days after two European countries banned use of the drug. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has yet to release any guidance on use of Actos.
Five-year data show that although there's no overall increased risk of bladder cancer, patients with the longest exposure to and the highest cumulative dose of the drug were at greater risk, the agency said.