Birth Defect Lawyer Blog

A new study finds that pregnant women who take the antiepileptic medication valproate (brand name Depokate) are at a higher risk of having children who develop autism. Previous studies have also linked Depakote use to a higher risk of birth defects.

The study, conducted in the UK and published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, looked at over 500 pregnant women between 2000 and 2004. Of that number, roughly half had epilepsy, and all but 34 women took medication to keep their seizures under control. These women took carbamazepine (brand name Tegretol), valproate, and lamotrigine (brand name Lamictal). Later, researchers studied the potential effects of these medications on the women's children. Of the 415 available, 19 had been diagnosed with a developmental problem by the age of six years old, and three also had a physical disability. Of these 19 children, 12 children had a form of autism, and one had also been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Three children had attention deficit disorder by itself, and four children had a condition known as dyspraxia, where the individual suffers from a lack of physical coordination.

Children born to mothers with epilepsy were more likely to develop these physical and mental problems than children born to mothers without epilepsy -- 7.46% compared to 1.87%. Roughly 12% of children whose mothers who took valproate had developmental disorders, and 15% of children whose mothers took valproate plus other medication. Moreover, the higher the dose of valproate, the more likely the children were to have a neurodevelopment disorder. Overall, children of mothers who took valproate were six to 10 times more likely to develop physical or mental problems compared to children born to mothers without epilepsy, with boys being diagnosed three times more often than girls.

Experts throughout the world have expressed concern about the overuse of valproate. In the United States, only half of valproate prescriptions are for the treatment of epilepsy. The rest are for the treatment of migraines and psychiatric disorders.

By now, the dangers posed by valproate/Depakote, and even lamotrigine/Lamictal, should come as no surprise, given the other studies involving the drugs. However, it is possible that many pregnant women are completely unaware of these drugs' harmful effects and rely upon their physicians to inform them of the dangers. If you are one of those women and your child was born with a birth defect, you have the option of filing a medical malpractice suit against your physician. In order to be successful, you would need to make the case that your physician knew of the dangers -- or could have reasonably obtained the information -- of taking valproate while pregnant, but failed to inform you. Since physicians have a duty to inform, that would be a breach of duty to you, the patient. You would argue that as a result, you were exposed to valproate while pregnant and your child was born with a birth defect or has autism or attention deficit disorder.