BMJ published study linking birth defects with Paxil (paroxetine) and Prozac (fluoxetine) but not other SSRIs

The BMJ published a study from Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that analysed data from 17,952 mothers of infants with birth defects and 9,857 months of children without birth defects born between 1997 and 2009 and found a connexion between Prozac (fluoxetine) and heart and skull defects and a smaller risk with Paxil/Seroxat (paroxetine) and defects of heart, brain and skull, but no links to defects with other serotonin reuptake inhibitors Zoloft (sertraline) or Celexa (citalopram) and Lexapro (escitalopram). Pfizer may find the news comforting as it defends court actions that Zoloft is linked to birth defects in infants. GSK has paid over $1 billion to settle claims based on birth defect claims allegedly arising from Paxil and faces further claims .The defects applied to children of mothers who had taken Prozac or Paxil the month before pregnancy and during the first trimester.