According to the San Francisco Gate, anticonvulsant medication such as Depakote are being increasingly linked to birth defects. Recent studies have found that victims of birth defects may have been exposed to anticonvulsants in the uterus. Mothers may have been prescribed Depakote which has the risk of potentially causing life-long conditions such as spina bifida, heart malformations or oral cleft birth defects.
Depakote is a widely used anticonvulsant drug on the market, prescribed to women suffering from epilepsy and migraine headaches. A report entitled The Teratogenicity of Anticonvulsant Drugs done by the New England Journal of Medicine suggests a connection between Depakote use and the development of birth defects among infants exposed to the drug during pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration supports these findings and published its own report Birth Defects Related to Depakote and Similar Drugs.
The report is a compilation of studies conducted on adverse effects of Depakote use during pregnancy. Among the birth defects found to be closely associated with the drug are severe and potentially fatal injuries and neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida. These birth defects have no cure and require life-long costly medical treatment. Sometimes extensive medical treatment is necessary to alleviate an infant’s symptoms associated with the condition.
In 2009, the FDA issued a warning about Depakote directed towards healthcare professionals and prescribing of the drug to women during pregnancy. The agency warned medical professionals and women of the increased risk of birth defects among infants exposed to the drug in the uterus including malformed face and skull, spina bifida, spinal cord defects, and cardiovascular malformations.
