Editorial Note: A study published this week suggests that the issue of birth defects on antidepressants rather than suicide or homicide may yet end up as the Mark of Cain by which these drugs are remembered. Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. If that mockingbird won't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring If that diamond ring … [Read more...] about Lullaby
Pregnancy
Antidepressants and Autism: Time to Worry?
Editorial Note: This post by Adam Urato from Boston picks up one of the most important issues of our time. It touches on one of the most sensitive issues of all - should anyone tell a mother-to-be what to do about medications like the Antidepressants. See The Dark is for Mushrooms. Does antidepressant use during pregnancy lead to autism in the exposed children? This is a very … [Read more...] about Antidepressants and Autism: Time to Worry?
I’m not pre-pregnant. I just have a womb.
Editorial Note: Two months ago we were deep in a controversy about Antidepressants and Birth Defects. (See The Dark is for Mushrooms, not for Women, Preventing Precaution and Mumsnet). Many women hearing a message that they should be wary about antidepressants and the risk of birth defects hear that they are being regarded simply as wombs rather than women. Others hear pharma … [Read more...] about I’m not pre-pregnant. I just have a womb.
Herding Women
Since 2005, Paroxetine, first marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Seroxat/Paxil, has carried warnings of birth defect risks. These risks led to litigation in the US – but not elsewhere. In the first case that went to court in the US in 2009, the Kilker case, the lawyers for Lyam Kilker argued that, even before Paxil was launched, there was good laboratory evidence that the … [Read more...] about Herding Women
The Pre-Pregnancy Dilemma Survey: Part 1
This is the first of two five minute surveys covering dilemmas that have been thrown up by the Panorama program on antidepressants, anticonvulsants and birth defects. The dilemma arises from the fact that women going on them are kept in the dark about a number of important issues. First, they aren't told that these drugs can cause significant dependence - that they can be … [Read more...] about The Pre-Pregnancy Dilemma Survey: Part 1
Mumsnet
Editorial Note: Two comments from Johanna and Neil in response to The Dark is for Mushrooms and Preventing Precaution. Johanna I didn’t see the BBC Panorama show (not available in the US) and don’t know if the outrage expressed by the Mumsnet blogger is sincere. It hardly sounds like Dr. Pilling was against using SSRI’s for any woman physically capable of getting pregnant. In … [Read more...] about Mumsnet
Preventing Precaution
Editorial Note: This post by Harriet Rosenberg aims at getting some debate going about medication and birth defects. We will run a survey early next week on this issue Right-to-Know (R2K). A recent post on RxISK, The dark is for mushrooms not for women features responses on Mumsnet to the issue of prescribing SSRIs during pregnancy. Johanna Ryan comments at the end of the … [Read more...] about Preventing Precaution
The Dark is for Mushrooms, Not for Women
The pre-pregnancy puzzle This post contains a comment by Neil Gorman on Humira in Ulcerative Colitis backed up by material criticising a BBC Panorama program on antidepressants in pregnancy retrieved from the link to Mumsnet mentioned by Neil. This link illustrates beautifully why Pharma has such an easy ride. There is a mythic element here. Where men are accused of seeing … [Read more...] about The Dark is for Mushrooms, Not for Women
Maclean’s magazine: There’s a pill for that
A B.C. class-action suit against the makers of Paxil is putting the spotlight on a controversial issue: the growing use of antidepressants during pregnancy. ...Yet a rising chorus of researchers is questioning Motherisk’s stance on SSRI use in pregnancy. One of the most vocal is psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist David Healy, director of the North Wales department of … [Read more...] about Maclean’s magazine: There’s a pill for that
Autism Awareness Day: Antidepressants in Pregnancy
Editorial Note: This post is by Adam Urato MD, the Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, as well as a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He cares for pregnant women on a daily basis. Autism rates are on the rise, with the latest report from the US Centers for Disease … [Read more...] about Autism Awareness Day: Antidepressants in Pregnancy