While Topamax’s connection to cleft palate and oral clefts is common knowledge these days, it turns out that doctors and researchers are still waging debates over the drug’s link to birth defects when babies are exposed to the drug during the first trimester.

One of the more recent roundtable discussions was recently published online by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The publication ran a review of a previously-run study that found that Topamax made the likelihood of babies being born with cleft palate and cleft lip five times more likely. In this latest review, researchers concluded that the link between Topamax use and clefts are clear, but that more research will be needed in order to fully understand it.

“Personally, if I see someone exposed to (Topamax), I am going to have the lips and palate well-visualized on ultrasound,” said Dr. Alison Cahill, an assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University in St. Louis. “But I’m not at the point where I would tell a patient who is on (Topamax) to stop the medication before conception.”

Topamax is an anti-seizure medication that is used to prevent epileptic seizures. Numerous research studies have linked Topamax to various birth defects in babies born to mothers who use the drug while pregnant. Some of those birth defects include PPHN, oral clefts, neural tube defects and spina bifida. Some babies also experience heart, lung and brain defects as well. As more and more studies test the dangers of Topamax for pregnant women, more and more doctors are opting out of prescribing it during the first trimester.

If your baby was born with birth defects after in-utero exposure to Topamax, contact attorney Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your child’s injuries.