Depakote Cleft Palate and Spina Bifida Lawsuits

Tampa, FLIt's heartbreaking for any parent whose child is born with a birth defect, but perhaps even more so when it is caused by a prescribed drug, such as Depakote. Attorneys are now advising families of children with depakote cleft palate and other depakote birth defects such as spina bifida that they may qualify for a depakote lawsuit.

Over the last few years, LawyersandSettlements has spoken with several women who, regrettably, took depakote during their pregnancies. "I took Depakote for seizure disorder before and during pregnancy," says Denise. "My baby was born with a soft cleft palate. He needed soft cleft palate repair surgery in 2008 and currently has a delay in speech development." Linda has suffered more than 25 years of terrible pain and countless surgeries as a result of spina bifida. Her mother, Kathy, also took Depakote during pregnancy. These people and countless others are facing a lifetime of expensive treatment and therapy. Children with cleft palate can suffer from severe speech problems, even after extensive cleft palate surgeries. Therefore, it is important that they seek legal counsel to help with their financial burdens.

In January 2011, a group of 26 women filed a lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories, the manufacturer of Depakote. And one month prior, a similar suit was filed on behalf of more than two dozen parents nationwide. According to complaints, all the women took Depakote during their pregnancies, which caused their children to be born with birth defects, including cleft palate.

The plaintiffs claim that Abbot knew of the potential side effects and they refer to a NEJM study (2010) indicating that "infants who were exposed to Depakote in utero were two to seven times more likely to develop cleft palate, skeletal defects, hand deformations and heart defects, and twelve to sixteen times more likely to develop spina bifida, compared to infants whose mothers took no anticonvulsant drugs during pregnancy."

As more studies, such as the above, link Depakote to birth defects, attorneys expect to file more Depakote lawsuits. "Depakote cases can go all the way back to 1983," says attorney Ben Stewart. Potentially, Linda and Kathy may be able to file a Depakote lawsuit.

"If your child was born with a significant defect and you had no reason to know because of the lack of discovery, there is an argument that the child didn't know the injury was caused by Depakote," explains Stewart, who looks at each case individually. "The statute of limitations varies state by state and a child's claim is held until it reaches the age of majority, which is 21 years of age. The parent's claim begins to run at time of birth."

Since Depakote was first approved by the FDA in 1983, it is estimated that more than 2 million people have used the anti-epilepsy drug.