No parent wants to hear the news that their child suffers severe birth defects. Lisa Collins Steele’s nine-month-old son, Chase, was born with half a heart. Since his birth, Chase has had to undergo one open heart surgery, a dozen emergency trips to the hospital for care, and is currently on life support. Ms. Steele now faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills that may never end. She believes her son’s suffering could have been prevented if she had been warned not to continue taking the anti-depressant Paxil while she was pregnant.

Ms. Steele has filed a lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline and her physician, alleging product liability and negligence in her case.

Ms. Steele stopped taking Paxil a few months before a warning was issued in December 2005 by GlaxoSmithKline and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that pregnant women taking Paxil faced a higher risk of their children being born with birth defects, especially cardiovascular defects. According to Ms. Steele’s personal injury attorney, if Ms. Steele had been aware of this risk, she would not have taken Paxil.

According to the attorney representing Ms. Steele, there may be as many as 50 additional personal injury cases being reviewed for potential litigation against GlaxoSmithKline involving similar defects in children born to women who took Paxil during their pregnancy.

Source: Chau Nguyen, “Litigation against Paxil begins,” KHOU.com, August 2, 2006.