While pregnant, women need to be especially careful about what foods and medications that they put into their bodies. Early in the first trimester, while many women are not even aware that they are pregnant, the baby is at a heightened risk for birth defects due to medications being ingested by their mother. Our birth defects attorneys have been writing for months about the drug Topamax and its connection to cleft lip and palate birth defects.
Mothers Taking Active Ingredient in Topamax Three Times More Likely to have Children with Birth Defects
A recent study called Comparative Safety of Topiramate During Pregnancy, performed by researchers from Harvard University, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and Loyola University in Chicago, has come to the conclusion that topiramate increases chances of birth defects. According to the study, women who take the active ingredient in the medication Topamax during their first trimester of pregnancy increase the risk of their children being born with major oral birth defects. The study analyzed statistics of 6,456 pregnant women and “compared the frequency of adverse pregnancy outcomes for those who had used topiramate during their first trimester to a control group.” The results were that the children whose mothers took topiramate were almost three times more likely to be born with a birth defect, 3.8 %, than the mothers who did not, 1.3 %.
Birth Defects Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If you are a pregnant and currently taking Topamax or any drug containing topiramate, speak with your doctor as soon as possible about other, safer options. If you are a parent who has recently given birth to a child who suffers from a birth defect that you believe can be attributed to a prescription drug, contact the Mininno Law Office to speak with birth defects lawyers and discuss your legal rights. You may also call for a free case evaluation and consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Brian Santana was born with no arms and one leg. The parent’s lawsuit claims that Morel and the ultra sound technician should have detected the missing limbs. The medical malpractice attorneys also found that both the doctor and the technician signed a report stating that they had seen all four limbs during the ultrasound. This news led the parents to believe that their child was healthy and would not be suffering from any major birth defects. The plaintiffs argued that because of this negligence, they were not properly informed about their son’s health and had they been, they would have terminated the pregnancy. This failure to properly diagnose the young boy and properly inform the parents of his health is a clear violation of the acceptable standard of medical care. It is the hope of the medical malpractice attorneys that this money will be an appropriate amount to care for the child, who will need considerable medical attention for his entire life.
Months ago, the Mininno Law Office blog posted about the anti-epileptic drug Topamax, which was shown to cause oral malformations, such as cleft lip or cleft palate, in newborns whose mothers took the drug during pregnancy. The FDA recently changed the drug’s classification from 
As children grow older, a birth defect may have a more drastic effect on their self-esteem, social skills, and behavior. This elevated risk could have a dramatic influence on how individuals view themselves and could harm their ability to form relationships with peers. Increased anxiety and dissatisfaction with peer relationships can probably be linked to the associated stigma of 
Topamax is not like many other migraine medications and this may shed light on its popularity. As opposed to taking the medicine as soon as headache pain begins, Topamax is taken daily which helps avoid migraines all together. Topamax begins limiting the frequency of migraines after only one month. But when women begin to heavily rely on it, a problem may arise. Many studies have shown that Topamax is successful in limiting headaches, but unfortunately, women need to prioritize once they become pregnant. Although headaches can have a devastating effect on daily activities, birth defects attorneys believe that the risk to newborn babies is far worse. Topamax has been widely available in the United States since 1996, but the true dangers of potential birth defects have only recently been realized. Expectant mothers should speak with a medical professional and seek an alternative medication while pregnant to limit the potential of birth defects.
When a child is between the ages of six weeks and nine months, surgery is usually done to close the cleft lip. Additional surgery may also be necessary down the road if the cleft has a major effect on the nose and the surrounding area. If the cleft lip can be successfully closed by this initial surgery, it becomes much more likely that the child will have normal speech developments as the aging process continues. During the early months however, a prosthetic is sometimes inserted temporarily to close a baby’s palate to ensure that a baby can receive the proper food and nutrients. When a baby is able to take in the proper amount of nutrients, even with the cleft lip and cleft palate, lawyers say that growth and weight issues are not nearly as likely.
Many parents are alarmed after their child’s surgery when new scars are red. During the healing process, the body re-routes blood vessles to the scar to bring an extra supply of blood, creating that red color. The red will progressively darken for about three months and will be raised off the skin and stiff to the touch. Eventually, the scar will fade, soften, and flatten. Ultimately, the scar should look like a soft, flat, white line.
There are different reasons that children with certain birth defects may begin to develop speech problems. Professionals say that some of these problems are a direct result of the anatomical differences that are seen in people with cleft lip or cleft palate. On the other hand, attorneys say that it is also possible for children with birth defects to develop speech problems in different ways.