What are Topamax birth defects?

Topamax Lawsuit is becoming a hot topic these days and is the solution for many families who are affected by Topamax birth defects. Luckily, there are lawyers who are willing to assist and help families dealing with birth defects such as cleft palate or cleft lip. The said defects are allegedly caused by the side effects of Topamax drug use during the first trimester of pregnancy.

If you happen to be one of the affected families of Topamax birth defects, you can file a Topamax Lawsuit. In 2010, Johnson and Johnson paid more than $81 million to settle claims because they had illegally sold the medicine for unapproved used and illegally marketed it. These illegal uses involve bipolar disorder, alcohol abuse, weight loss or other off label purposes.

The Topamax Lawsuit whistleblowers suggest that doctors were actually compensated for marketing the drug for off label purposes that were not recognized by FDA. These whistle blowers are from the company that they are exposing and were filing a Topamax Lawsuit for illegal marketing of the drug, finally leading to new Topamax Lawsuit involving birth defects.

Based from recent studies about anti-epileptic drug side effects, birth defects like cleft lip, cleft palate, or hypospadias are caused by the use of Topamax during pregnancy. Cleft palate and cleft lip are two inborn birth defects that involve the incomplete formation of the child’s upper lip or palate while hypospadias is the malformation that involves a male baby’s genitals wherein the urethra’s opening is not in place.

A study of the New England Journal of Medicine (2001) suggests that drugs like Topamax can caused potential harm to a fetus in the womb. Another study in 2008 by the journal, Neurology, stated that babies who were exposed to Topamax during pregnancy were at risk by up to 11 times of developing a cleft lip or cleft palate.

With the announcement of the new side effect information regarding the possible danger of  fetus’ exposure to Topamax while in a woman’s womb, leading to Topamax birth defects; from Category C, Topamax has been elevated to become a Category D based from FDA findings. When a drug hits the Category D mark, it’s not safe for a pregnant woman and for her baby because of possible Topamax birth defects.

Despite the popularity of Topamax due to its high demand, there were different extensive studies done in the past wherein researchers have probe into the adverse effects leading to Topamax birth defects. Based from anti-epileptic drug effect researches, those pregnant women taking Topamax have greater chances of delivering a baby with birth defects.

Unfortunately, these women have already consumed the drug right even before knowing that they are pregnant during their first four months of pregnancy. In addition, almost fifty percent of pregnancies are unexpected or unplanned, meaning a childbearing-age woman is more likely to carry a fetus with Topamax birth defects.