Women Who Took Wellbutrin During Pregnancy
Posted by Lawsuit Information on July 29th, 2015
Studies have now found that fetuses exposed to Wellbutrin are more than twice as likely to develop heart defects. Many women are not aware that antidepressants have been linked to a higher rate of spontaneous miscarriages. One of these antidepressants is called Wellbutrin. The main active ingredient in Wellbutrin is called bupropion. There are actually few antidepressants that have been proved to be safe for women during pregnancy and many of them still have inadequate testing.
While it can be dangerous for women to be depressed during pregnancy, holistic doctors and therapists offer healthy eating and emotional coping methods to deal with depression that are a safer alternative to antidepressants like Wellbutrin. If you suffer from depression, it’s best to deal get used to holistic alternatives before becoming pregnant. Hormones are released during pregnancy that can cause serious emotional swings that can be hard to deal with if you’re already someone struggling with depression.
GlaxoSmithKline, is the manufacturer of bupropion and this manufacturer is one of the largest in the world of pharmaceutical drugs. They have also been the subject of the largest lawsuits in healthcare and pharmaceutical history for illegally marketing drugs that were unsafe. Most of the tests done on infants for malformations from bupropion have been done through the manufacturer. This is an obvious conflict of interest.
Early reports showed that this drug caused heart deformations in infants as well as problems with the formation of the blood vessels. The later reports which are owned by GlaxoSmithKline claim that 20 of the women in their study of 514 participants had babies with birth malformations which they claim is a good number. That is still a high number and should not be discounted by any means. This is a 3.9% malformation rate.
More studies need to be done to determine the neurobehavioral effects of bupropion on infants as well as the neonatal effects. Because limited studies have been conducted on small groups, the information is still not able to show just how much of a higher risk a woman is at from taking Wellbutrin compared to other antidepressants. There is no question that antidepressants do pose a higher risk for malformation and it is staggering that women are still being advised to take the drugs instead of seeking other treatments for depression.
Here’s the ugly truth. The manufacturer says that Wellbutrin should only be used during breastfeeding or pregnancy if the risk of not taking it is greater than the risk of taking it. That is a highly subjective statement which can be misleading to women about what the risks are. This drug has also been found to reduce smoking cravings so pregnant women have been more inclined to take it since smoking leads to birth defects. However, they have not been properly warned of the potential risk to the child.
While some tests have been done to look for isolated birth defects and some of them have not shown an increase, most of the reports still say there is inconclusive evidence to show if the benefits of taking Wellbutrin are greater than the risks. There have been reports of seizures in breastfeeding infants whose mothers are taking Wellbutrin. It’s important to remember that antidepressants, not just Wellbutrin, have been found to increase the risk of spontaneous miscarriage.
