What is the nature of an SSRI causing birth defects?

If your child has suffered a birth defect, you may want to know the reason for it. And if you took an antidepressant such as Paxil while pregnant, you may be concerned that Paxil was the cause.

Such concern stems from the fact that studies have shown that an SSRI antidepressant, if taken during pregnancy, can lead to birth defects in infants of the women who took the drug. That means your child’s birth defect, if you took Paxil while pregnant -- especially during the first trimester -- could have been the result of an SSRI.

But what is meant by SSRI as an acronym? What is the nature of an SSRI First, that acronym stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Or course, now you’re probably wondering what is meant by a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.

An SSRI is a drug such as paroxetine hydrochloride, which happens to be Paxil’s chief ingredient. SSRI drugs such as this affect serotonin, which is a chemical harbored in the brain. Such a serotonin helps transmit signals between nerve cells.

Receptors are then released by nerve cells along the way to send the signals onward. Meanwhile, the original nerve cell reabsorbs what’s left of the serotonin between the cells in a process called reuptake.

This still may sound confounding, so look at it this way: It’s usually quite normal. But sometimes abnormalities arise. That is, the serotonins’ levels can become unbalanced in some people, and that can cause depression. So an SSRI is related to depression and is supposed to counteract it.

As you can see from this description, depression is a medical condition. It’s not just “in your head” and something you can shake off, but rather is a distinct medical ailment which requires treatment.

Paxil and other SSRI medications are designed to fix the imbalance in serotonins and thus ease depression.

While an SSRI drug can correct an unbalanced level of serotonins in the body, in the process it also can do much damage. One distressing SSRI side effect is birth defect injury.

Such SSRI birth defects can cover a very wide range of hurtful conditions, some of them even life-threatening to the newborn infant. Injuries to the brain or heart are serious injuries, and these can come as SSRI birth defects.

In the tragic event that a child in your family has suffered such an SSRI birth defect, perhaps after his or her mother took antidepressant Paxil while pregnant, get a knowledgeable SSRI attorney, Paxil lawyer or defective drug lawyer from our legal service.

Notify us of your problems today by phoning 1-800-344-9966 or by submitting this site’s free consultation form, and we’ll return your call or message as soon as possible to help you size up your chances for a successful defective drug lawsuit. You may be entitled to substantial financial compensation for your child’s SSRI birth defect injury.