Medical News Alert - Dangers of Depakote
Depakote, or valproate semisodium or divalproex sodium, is a popular drug marketed by Abbott Laboratories to treat manic episodes of bipolar disorder. Furthermore, many doctors are prescribing it to prevent manic and depressive episodes for people with bipolar disorder, as well as to treat epilepsy, migraines, and the pain caused by diseases that affect the nervous system that fall under the heading of neuropathy.
Unfortunately, there are a number of serious side effects associated with Depakote. The Food and Drug Administration classified Depakote into pregnancy category D due to its likelihood of causing serious and potentially life-threatening fetal side effects. Women that are pregnant, likely to become pregnant, or are nursing should not take Depakote because it can cause a wide variety of dangerous conditions including:
- Birth Defects: The most dangerous side effects of Depakote involve damage to an unborn fetus. These side effects include
- Cleft palate
- Hypoplastic right heart ( a condition that results in an underdeveloped right side of the heart)
- Undescended testes
- Hand malformations
- Dysplastic (abnormally developed) ribs
- Hypospadia (a condition in male babies that causes the opening of the urethra to occur in the wrong place)
- Spina Bifida (a condition that results in the spinal column failing to completely enclose the spinal cord.
- Fetal death
- Liver problems: Depakote can also cause serious liver problems that need immediate medical treatment.
- Dark urine
- Loss of appetitive
- Vomiting
- Fever
- Blood in the urine
Doctors discovered during a recent study 20.3% of women that took Depakote when they were pregnant gave birth to children that suffered from severe birth defects. Women that took higher doses of Depakote were even more likely of having children with birth defects; women that took high doses were more 24% more likely to have fetal trauma, while underdosed women only suffered 9.1% likelihood of birth defects.
If you or someone you know is the victim of Depakote birth injury side effects, you need to take action. You may be entitled to financial compensation for your pain and suffering, but the statute of limitations in your state could end your chance for justice before it has a chance to begin. Let our defective drug Depakote lawyers for you today.
Images portrayed in this site are not actual clients. It is not implied that images of people on this
site are real or have had their health harmed or affected from Depakote usage.
