Birth Defects May Be Caused by Zoloft Intake

In the United States, almost 20% of infant mortality rate is attributed to birth defects.  The time when birth defects usually occur happens in the pregnant woman’s first trimester and during the developmental stage of the fetus. One infant is said to be born with a defect out of a number of 33  The types of birth defects may come in physical and outward or internal and inward manifestation. Physical defects may be rectified and treated even during the mother’s pregnancy once detected.

The US Food and Drug Administration notified the public and healthcare professionals of the possible link of birth defects to the use of pregnant women of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) during pregnancy. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor is a class of antidepressant, such as fluoxetine, that prevents the inactivation of serotonin by blocking reuptake by presynaptic neuron endings. SSRI could potentially cause a rare heart and lung infant condition called Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN). Out of 1,000 live births, PPHN only affects 1 or 2 infants.  This risk increased six times over time among infants not older than four days of mothers who had SSRI exposure after 20 weeks of gestation.

Depression, panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder are the illnesses that Pfizer manufactured, renowned SSRI brand Zoloft, treats. Zoloft was the most prescribed antidepressant with a total of 29,652,000 prescriptions after it was marketed in the United States in 1991. All antidepressants including the sertraline drug Zoloft was issued by the US FDA contraindication for pediatric suicidality. The most feared and severe side effects of sertraline drugs are blurred vision, seizures, fever, sweating, confusion, fast or irregular heartbeat, and severe muscle stiffness, abnormal bleeding or bruising and hallucinations.

Many birth defects were linked to Zoloft prescriptions among pregnant women.  Advice was sent out by the US FDA to all health care providers not to alter their traditional treatments for depression during pregnancy. The US FDA has not accumulated enough evidence to conclude that SSRI definitely causes PPHN and recommends physicians to treat depression through clinically appropriate medications. Zoloft birth defects were noted to include clubbed foot, cleft palate, delayed development, persistent pulmonary hypertension, heart defects, skull defects and brain/spinal cord defects.  Upset stomach, decreased appetite, feeling unusually tired or sleepy, trouble sleeping, sexual problems in men and women, ?tremor, feeling agitated, indigestion and increased sweating are also side effects attributed to Zoloft. Pfizer, Inc. recorded a whopping revenues of $48.6 billion since they marketed Zoloft, eventually incurred losses amounting to $3.4 billion solely attributed to Norvasc and Zoloft.