Parents File Lawsuit against Paxil Maker over Daughter's Birth Injury

By Keely Hyslop

Published on January 15, 2007

In Sept. 2005, GlaxoSmithKline released the results of a survey that indicated an increased risk of birth defects involving heart malformation for women taking Paxil who were either pregnant or planned to become pregnant. Five years prior to the release of this report, Taylor’s mother was pregnant and her doctor recommended that she continue using Paxil during her pregnancy.

Taylor’s heart problem required open-heart surgery when she was less than a week old. Taylor will have to have more open-heart surgeries as she grows older. She will never be able to participate in sports or any other strenuous physical activity. She will have to be on strong heart medication for the rest of her life, which will preclude her from ever having children of her own.

The Dismukes have no family history of birth defects, and Andy Vickery, the Dismukes’ attorney believes strongly that Taylor’s heart malformation was the direct result of Paxil use by Taylor’s mother. Vickery is pushing strongly for the case to be the first to be brought to trial rather than settled out of court.

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