Mother-to-be Kimberly Dismuke, pregnant during 2000, wanted to ensure that her pregnancy was healthy and that she was doing everything in her power to make certain that both she and her baby were healthy all the way up to – and through – delivery. While Kimberly had been taking heart medication, she stopped this medication upon learning that she was pregnant – at the urging of her doctor. However, at that time, Kimberly was also taking Paxil® - a brand of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) used to manage anxiety and depression. Kimberly’s doctor did not advise against continuing to take Paxil® during her pregnancy. When Kimberly’s daughter was born it became evident that a severe heart defect would require her to undergo surgery – which she did several times during her first year of life.

In this case, Paxil® use was linked with the birth defect of Kimberly’s daughter; a revelation that occurred when Paxil®’s manufacturer – GlaxoSmithKline – released a statement in 2005 citing the drug’s connection with higher than average incidences of heart and other congenital defects, as well as Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in Newborns or PPHN – a serious birth defect wherein the newborn’s blood is obstructed from reaching the lungs and oxygenating the blood. Upon learning of the drug’s obvious connections with birth defects, Kimberly and her husband engaged the services of an attorney and filed a product liability lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline.

As more and more parents and children are affected by Paxil® use and suffer the ramifications of serious birth defects such as PPHN, lawsuits are continuing to be waged against pharmaceutical companies. Paxil® attorneys in California work with clients to weed through the extensive information inherent to pharmaceutical lawsuits and assist them in seeking restitution for their medical and emotional suffering.

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