Mothers Of Children With Birth Defects Could Opt For Topamax Lawsuit
The reported new study which highlights successful surgical procedure for treating epilepsy is welcome news after several recent studies linking Topamax with birth defects cropped up. A Topamax lawsuit remains to be an option for mothers who took Topamax during their pregnancy and gave birth to babies with deformities, although there is still no reported case filed against Ortho-McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured Topamax.
In 1996, Topamax was approved for epilepsy treatment and in 2004, the drug was indicated for the prevention of certain types of migraine headaches by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Topamax’s classification has been elevated by the FDA from pregnancy category C to D amidst studies suggesting that mothers who took Topamax could give birth to infants with birth defects. Positive human evidence of the drug’s potential to cause serious harm to a fetus when taken during pregnancy was the basis for the reclassification.
These deformities could either be a cleft lip, cleft palate—two types of congenital malformations which are caused by incomplete development during the early stages of pregnancy, according to the studies. According to studies, Topamax clefts may range from a small notch in the lip to a groove which extends into the palate and may cause difficulty eating and talking, as well as ear infections. A condition wherein the urethra is located at the underside of the penis and not at the tip where it should be normally located is called hypospadias, a genital deformation also linked to Topamax.
These findings have been reported in studies done in the United Kingdom in 2008, however, Johnson & Johnson, failed to issue a warning regarding the said Topamax side effects until this year when the FDA released the information. Compensation could be sought by mothers who were under the Topamax medication during pregnancy and gave birth to infants with birth defects for Johnson & Johnson’s failure to release early pregnancy warnings. Affected families is provided with the opportunity to seek compensation for medical bills and other damages resulting from their child’s birth defects via the Topamax lawsuit.