Topamax

On March 4, 2011 the FDA issued a safety announcement regarding the risks of women taking Topamax (topiramate) while they are pregnant. New data determined that the drug, formally classified as a Pregnancy Category C drug, should instead be reclassified as a Pregnancy Category D drug. Raising it from a drug that studies had suggested had a potential for risk to fetuses to a drug that showed positive evidence for risks to the fetus based on data gathered from human usage.

Many women who were prescribed this medication might have been unaware they were even pregnant at the time, the first trimester, that the drug would have caused oral defect damage to the fetus. The law office of O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath would like to alert parents of children born with a cleft palate due to the use of Topamax during pregnancy that such birth defects might not be the parents' fault. Instead it could be the result of a known risk of taking the prescription medication and there might be justifiable cause for a Topamax lawsuit, and encourage parents of children born with a cleft palate, and the mother took Topamax, to contact their office for a free consultation:

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue
Austin, TX. 78701

phone: 512-494-9949

Note that the FDA stated in their safety announcement that there are cases where the risks of taking Topamax, and other topiramates, may be acceptable due to the specific benefits of the drug in the treatment of epileptic seizures.