Lexapro Lawsuits Allege Numerous Birth Defect Injuries

UPDATED: Jun 29, 2022

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Jun 29, 2022

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It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

UPDATED: Jun 29, 2022

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jun 29, 2022Fact Checked

Lexapro lawsuits filed throughout the nation allege birth defects including omphalocele, PPHN, heart defects, autism, spina bifida and more. If you believe that you may have a Lexapro lawsuit, contact a Lexapro injury lawyer to discuss your situation and determine whether you might be entitled to compensation for your child’s injuries.

Possible Lexapro Birth Defects

According to Lexapro injury attorneys, the popular SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) anti-depressant drug manufactured by Forest Laboratories may cause the following Lexapro birth defects:

  • Omphalocele / Abdominal Birth Defects. Omphalocele is a developmental abdominal birth defect that causes an infant’s intestine or other abdominal organs to stick out of its belly button (navel).
  • PPHN (Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn). PPHN refers to having difficulty breathing or experiencing other types of lung conditions. It is generally caused when taken during the third trimester. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has reported that the risk of a child developing PPHN is six times greater for women who take anti-depressant drugs during this time.
  • Heart (cardiac) Cardiac. SSRI drugs such as Lexapro (escitalopram) can cause numerous cardiac type injuries such as septal defects, heart valve abnormalities, coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, Patent Ductus Arteriosis (PDA), transposition of the great arteries and Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). The NEJM has reported that pregnant women who take SSRIs in their first trimester quadruple the risk of their babies experiencing a cardiac defect.
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The Archives of General Psychiatry reported that pregnant women who took an SSRI antidepressant were twice as likely to give birth to a child with an autism spectrum disorder.
  • Spina Bifida. Spina bifida occulta is a neural tube defect which occurs when a child’s spinal bones fail to close, but the spinal cord itself and the meninges – the system of membranes that envelopes the central nervous system – remain in place.

Are You Entitled To Lexapro Injury Compensation?

Most women who took Lexapro, Celexa  and other SSRI drugs while pregnant did not know the risks they were taking. In fact, a University of Pittsburgh study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center determined that out of half of a million women who were given an SSRI drug during pregnancy, approximately half of them did not know that these drugs could pose a risk to their unborn baby of suffering from a serious birth defect.

The fact remains that numerous birth defect studies have reported on the dangers of SSRI drugs taken during pregnancy. In addition, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) classifies Lexapro as a Pregnancy Category C – meaning that animal reproduction studies have shown an adverse effect on the fetus. Unfortunately, many women often experience depression while pregnant – which means means more sales for manufacturers.

If you think that you might have a Lexapro lawsuit, contact an experienced Lexapro injury attorney who can help you determine whether filing a Lexapro injury lawsuit might be in your – and your child’s – best interests.

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Jeffrey Johnson

Insurance Lawyer

Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

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