Clomid Side Effects: Anencephaly, Craniosynostosis, Cleft Lip & Palate, Down's Syndrome, Heart Defects, Dandy Walker Malformation, Congenital Heart Lesions

Clomid Use Increases Serious Birth Defects Risk

A study of Clomid (generic: clomiphene-citrate), a commonly prescribed fertility treatment drug, by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) links Clomid to a significantly increased risk of several serious birth defects. Birth defect attorneys at the personal injury law firm Parker Waichman LLP are investigating potential lawsuits on behalf of your child and yourself if you were prescribed the fertility drug and your child was born with or suffers from any of the birth defects mentioned below. The CDC study involved women who reported Clomid use in the period of two months before conception and the first month of pregnancy. The birth defects associated with Clomid are serious, and some are life threatening. The terrible irony is that the very fertility treatment drug prescribed to help women have babies can lead to crippling and in some cases, life threatening birth defects.

Clomid Uses

Clomid (clomiphene) is in a class of medications called ovulatory stimulants. It works similarly to estrogen, a female hormone that causes eggs to develop in the ovaries and be released. Clomid comes as a tablet that is usually taken once a day for 5 days, beginning on or about day 5 of the cycle. Clomid is also sometimes used to treat male infertility, menstrual abnormalities, fibrocystic breasts, and persistent breast milk production.

Clomid has been placed in Category X by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), meaning that there is evidence it can cause birth defects when used during pregnancy. This evidence is usually seen in testing done on animals since it is too dangerous to perform such experiments on humans. It's generally assumed that if a birth defect is present in animals exposed to a certain medication, the same will hold true in humans.

The FDA says that in order to avoid inadvertent Clomid administration during early pregnancy, appropriate tests should be utilized during each treatment cycle to determine whether ovulation occurs. The patient should be evaluated carefully to exclude pregnancy, ovarian enlargement, or ovarian cyst formation between each treatment cycle. The next course of Clomid therapy should be delayed until these conditions have been excluded.

Clomid Birth Defect Injuries

The CDC study identifies the following as serious birth (congential) defects:

• Anencephaly (open cranium with the absence of a brain - this is a potentially fatal birth defect)
• Esophageal atresia (closed or underdeveloped esophagus)
• Omphalocele (the infant's intestine or other abdominal orggans protrude from the bellybutton (navel). Babies born with Omphalocele, the intestines are covered by a thin layer of tissue and are easily seen.
• Craniosynostosis (premature fusion of the skull bones, leading to an abnormally shaped head)
• Dandy Walker Malformation Syndrome (A brain malformation involving the cerebellum and the fluid filled space around it. There are presently three types of Dandy-Walker complexes, with Malformation being the moest sever.)
• Cloacal exstrophy (involves multiple abnormalities of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts)
• Hypospadias & Penoscrotal Hypospadias (opening of the urethra is on the underside rather than the end)
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): (A group of disorders with similar autism features. Ex: "Classic" autism; Asperger Syndrome and Atypical Autism)
• Limb Reduction Deficit: (A birth defect in which all or some of the limbs of a fetus do not completely form while in utero)
• Three different types of heart defects

Clomid Birth Defects Research

Until now, research examining the association between Clomid and birth defects has been inconclusive, but in November 2010, the journal Human Reproduction published a study from the CDC that found a significant association with nine types of birth defects following use of Clomid. The study utilized data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a population-based, multi-site case control study of major birth defects. Women from 10 US regions with deliveries affected by at least one of 30 birth defects and mothers of live born infants without a major birth defect (controls) who delivered from October 1997 through December 2005 were interviewed. Clomid use was reported by 1.4 percent of women in the study. Thirty-six birth defect categories with at least three exposed cases were studied. The implicated abnormalities included anencephaly, esophageal atresia , omphalocele, craniosynostosis, septal heart defects, muscular ventricular septal defect, coarctation of aorta, Dandy Walker malformation and cloacal exstrophy. Twenty-two of the remaining 27 birth defect categories likewise showed an increased risk, ranging from 10 percent up to 170 percent after exposure to Clomid, although the study authors said the numbers were insufficient to reach the scientific standard for statistical significance.

Other studies have also pointed to an association between Clomid and birth defects. For example, one study of 2,339 Clomid-assisted pregnancies found 58 reported cases of Clomid birth defects and reproductive complications including spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. While the risks associated with Clomid birth defects are low, the fertility drug may cause birth defects, as well as serious life-long disability or fatalities in a newborn. Some other reported Clomid birth defects include, but are not limited to:

Congenital Heart Leasions & Anomalies
• Down’s Syndrome
• Club foot
• Cleft lip and/or cleft palate
Undescended testicles in males
• Spina Bifida
• Blindness
• Hernia (inguinal and umbilical)
• Muscular Ventricular Septal Defects

The findings of these studies and resulting statistics can be extremely devastating to the women and their families who had struggled to become pregnant, and have finally given birth only to find that the fertility drug they were given caused their baby to suffer from a severe or deadly birth defect.

Clomid History

The U.S> Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved Clomid use in 1967 to assist women suffering from infertility to conceive. Clomid (clomiphene citrate) is the most commonly prescribed fertility drug. It is in a class of drugs called ovulatory stimulants and functions by inducing ovulation (egg production) in women who cannot produce eggs. Recently, Clomiphene was assigned a Category X by the FDA, which is the highest level of pregnancy risk that can be assigned to a drug, indicating Clomiphene should not be used during pregnancy. Animal testing has shown evidence of fetotoxicity, (injury to the fetus). Post marketing surveillance has supported these results in human data. The FDA recommends women who are or could be pregnant should not take this drug.

Clomid Birth Defects Victim - Legal Help

If you believe Clomid may have caused your child to be born with a birth defect, you may have valuable legal rights. Our Clomid birth defect lawyers are currently offering free case evaluations to victims of Clomid injuries. To discuss filing a possible Clomid birth defect lawsuit with one of our attorneys, please fill out our online form, or call 1 800 LAW INFO (1-800-529-4636) today.