Another leading expert, Dr Peter Breggin, founder of The International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP), a nonprofit research and educational network, and the journal Ethical Human Sciences and Services, also says a thorough review of all the studies submitted to the FDA for the approval of the SSRI's showed that, when taken as a whole, the drugs do not work.
Dr Breggin also agrees that the high rate of prescribing to women indicates that women who may be experiencing minor symptoms of distress common with daily living are being convinced that they have a mental illness that requires drugs, most frequently an SSRI.
Proponents for the drug makers claim that depression itself poses a greater risk to the fetus than SSRI's. "The problem with this claim is that there is no consideration for the health of the baby and the immense stress a mother has to endure when her baby is sick," states Kate Gillespie, a Paxil injury lawyer from the Baum Hedlund law firm.
"Not to mention, the far greater stress that is created by having to constantly deal with life and death health issues, like the respiratory problems of an infant, that are caused by SSRI-induced PPHN," she adds.
"For these women," Ms Gillespie says, "it is clear that the risks far outweigh any benefit."
An August 2006 study in the Archives of General Psychiatry compared babies born to depressed mothers treated with SSRI's to those born to mothers who were not treated, and found a significantly greater incidence of respiratory distress, 13.9% vs 7.8%, and longer hospital stays for the infants exposed to SSRI's.
Another study, in the August 2007 American Journal of Psychiatry, examined the effects of depression and antidepressant use on fetal age and the risk of preterm birth with 90 women and found the drugs, rather than depression, to be associated with lower fetal age and an increased risk of preterm birth. The researchers noted that the presence of depression per se during pregnancy did not adversely affect outcomes.
According to Dr Breggin, SSRI's should never be used during pregnancy. "If pregnant women feel anxious or sad," he says, "they should seek counseling or family therapy involving the child's father, along with other sources of emotional support."
Families seeking legal advice regarding SSRI-antidepressant birth defects can contact the Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman Law Firm at: (800) 827-0087; http://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/
Evelyn Pringle evelyn-pringle@sbcglobal.net
(Written as part of the Antidepressant Birth Defect Litigation Monthly Round-Up, Sponsored by Baum Hedlund's Pharmaceutical Antidepressant Litigation Department) www.paxilbirthdefect.com/ www.pphnlawyers.com
(Evelyn Pringle is a regular columnist for OpEd News and investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government and corporate America)
