Paxil is a Category D pregnancy medication due to its birth defects risk

For pregnant women suffering from depression, Paxil is considered a Category D medication. What does this mean?

It means that the Food and Drug Administration, which labeled Paxil as a Category D drug, considers the antidepressant to be risky by posing potential dangers to the fetus. Yet as a Category D drug, Paxil can be prescribed by a physician or other healthcare provider if he or she thinks its potential benefits for the mother outweigh its potential dangers to her unborn baby.

Even so, a majority of healthcare providers and physicians are unlikely to prescribe Paxil for a pregnant woman, in view of possible Paxil birth defects -- a very real risk. Some children have had to have repeated heart surgeries due to Paxil birth defects.

What might be an exception as a Category D drug? Since Paxil is known to function as a potent antidepressant, it may be prescribed for a woman suffering from severe depression in pregnancy for which no other treatments prevail. A physician may determine that Paxil is vital for guarding such a woman’s health and allow the risk that it might impact her unborn child in the process.

However, it is especially unwise to prescribe such a drug during the first trimester, or first three months, of a pregnancy. Then, Paxil use is most likely to trigger adverse side effects in the fetus. But using Paxil later in the pregnancy, up to and including the third trimester, also can lead to Paxil birth defects or other Paxil side effects injuries.

These can include minor side effects for the baby such as irritability, or major ones such as seizures or ailments of the heart, lungs or brain which may require surgery or even repeated surgeries.

If a woman does take Paxil, it’s important that such medication not be stopped abruptly, as Paxil withdrawal can occur. Thus, it’s vital that a woman not discontinue taking Paxil without first consulting her physician. In other words, even if a woman who’s taking Paxil later learns she is pregnant, she should consult her physician before discontinuing the drug, due to its withdrawl risks.

Paxil withdrawal symptoms, when they do occur, can include anxiety, dizziness, agitation, insomnia, headaches, irritability, confusion or lethargy.

Any woman whose baby suffered Paxil birth defects after she took Paxil during pregnancy may be eligible to pursue financial recovery via a Paxil lawsuit or defective drug lawsuit. She can alert an experienced defective drug lawyer or attorney with LawyerPaxil.com in order to explore such options in states across America.

A free case evaluation is available via this website’s online case evaluation form, or by calling toll-free to 1-800-344-9966. All information is held private.