Relationship Between Birth Defects, Strokes and Paxil

Since 2004, there have been several lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical company because of the effects of the several side effects that were caused by patients taking the antidepressant Paxil medication. The numerous side effects caused the patients to have increased suicidal and violent thoughts, nausea, dizziness, headaches, and dysfunctional sexual behavior. These are to name only a few of the side effects. These side effects have caused patients both mental and physical harm, injury, and even death. Now, there is the belief that the side effects of Paxil could possibly be linked to strokes.

Depression is one of the mental illnesses that have been treated with Paxil. Depression is a condition caused by a chemical imbalance or a chemical mix up in the brain. One of these brain chemicals is called serotonin. Serotonin is something that helps send electrical brain signals from one brain nerve cell to another. According to medical experts, a person who has a serotonin imbalance has a brain that is not able to send messages from one nerve cell to another; and this has an affect on cell-to-cell communication. When a patient takes Paxil, the Paxil attempts to block the serotonin from being reabsorbed back into the sender cells. It attempts to alter the brain communication. Therefore, it is believed that this alternation of brain communication can result in a stroke for the patient.

People who have experience a stroke when they were taking Paxil are part of the thousands of lawsuits currently taking place against GlaxcoKlineSmith pharmaceutical company. It is believed that the changes in the brain chemical reactions caused by Paxil have lead to possible stroke in some patients who took Paxil for any period of time. Paxil does alter the chemical makeup and the chemical reactions in the brain and this could possible cause a stroke. A stroke is when there is a lack of oxygen in the brain and this lack of oxygen could have been altered as well when the patient was taking Paxil.

If you have recently suffered a stroke and were taking Paxil when the stroke occurred, you should contact a Paxil lawyer to discuss the possibilities of a lawsuit. Chances are, your stroke may be related to your Paxil intake and a Paxil lawyer could discuss your conditions, your experiences and offer you guidance and counsel as to how to approach the lawsuit.

The use of Paxil to treat depression and other psychological disorders was considered a nominal risk when the drug first hit the market in 1992. The use of it was widespread with over two million new prescriptions written in 2002. However, in the last few years, greater scrutiny hit the manufacturers, Glaxo Smith Kline for the potential cover up of the risks of Paxil birth defects, especially in women who are prescribers in their first trimester.

Birth defects attack the heart of the infant, resulting in everything from minor valve problem and murmurs to holes in the heart that will eventually need transplantation. Paxil birth defects have greatly contributed to the widespread debate of the over use of antidepressant medication. While the defects are taking center stage, Paxil addiction became prevalent in those who tried to suddenly stop taking it in order to prevent the risk of a birth defect.

Paxil addiction can be just as serious as any other drug addiction, however many people are not realizing that they are suffering from the addiction until well after the addiction has set in. Pregnant women have an especially difficult time with Paxil addictions as their natural inclination to protect their baby from birth defects have them ignoring a doctor's orders to wean themselves off the medication. Birth defects and addictions have many Paxil attorneys asking one simple question. Why has it taken so long for the warnings about its use to get to the public's ears?

The notion of Paxil addiction has been flatly denied by Glaxo Smith Kline, although there is a lot of stammering when it comes to birth defects. A cover up? Probably. Women taking it in their first trimester are twice as likely to give birth to a child with a birth defect, and birth defects are so incredibly devastating that Glaxo Smith Kline is unlikely to admit fault any time soon.

Paxil attorneys express that filing lawsuits against the drug company can not only help bring media attention to this devastating situation, but may very well pressure the Food and Drug Administration to take a closer look at psychotropic medications. Paxil is only one of many over prescribed medication that cause serious ill effects, and if the Food and Drug Administration would require more stringent guidelines for these medications, Paxil birth defects and Paxil addiction would be an almost non-existent problem.