A defective drugs attorney has filed an action on behalf of an infant against Glaxo SmithKline in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.

The infant’s mother was prescribed the antidepressant Paxil during her first trimester by her physician, who was unaware of any warnings that the drug shouldn’t be taken by a woman who is pregnant. The pregnancy proceeded without incident and the baby was delivered at full term.

After leaving the hospital the child began to experience problems and was eventually referred to a pediatric cardiologist. An echocardiogram was performed and the parents were told that the baby had a number of cardiac deformities including severe aoritic stenosis, coarctation of the aortic valve and mitral stenosis.

At only 5 months of age the baby underwent a balloon valvuloplasty to improve blood flow through the aorta. Now, at age five,  this child is scheduled for a another heart operation and will likely have many more before he graduates elementary school.

This family isn’t the only one in this country battling drug manufacturers over adverse side effects. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Glaxo SmithKline claiming that children were born with significant congenital cardiac abnormalities after their mothers used Paxil during pregnancy.

The financial burden of caring for a child or other loved one harmed by defective drugs is enormous. It is important to contact a trained and experienced defective drugs attorney for professional insight into a possible Paxil settlement.

Negative reports keep flooding in regarding Merk & Co. Inc.’s popular vaccine, Gardasil. Gardasil was approved two years ago by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent the spread of human papillomavirus, a virus that is known to cause cervical cancer in a small percentage of the women and girls who contact it.

According to the FDA, Gardasil has been the subject of about 8,000 “adverse event” reports since the drug went on the market. Complaints range from nausea to paralysis and a total of 15 reported deaths. Approximately 16 million American girls and women have been given Gardasil, which has in general been widely supported by schools and other institutions, especially here in Texas.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention contends that none of the reported deaths were due to the receipt of Gardasil, but continues to investigate the negative reports.

The California Pharmacy Board is working towards citing and fining 94 California hospitals and their corresponding head pharmacists for not complying with a recall of the contaminated blood thinner Heparin.

In February, drug manufacturer Baxter Healthcare ordered a full recall of Heparin after concerns that the medication was contaminated. They stated that the drug was to be removed from circulation and not administered to patients.

However, in at least 29 of the California cases investigated, hospital pharmacies were thought to still be using the tainted Heparin. While the amounts of the fines are yet to be determined, the hospitals may face fines from both the California Pharmacy Board and the Department of Public Health.

Contaminated heparin is suspected in nearly 100 deaths and many hundreds of injuries over the last year. Several patients have file heparin lawsuits in order to begin recovering damages.