Wellbutrin: A Danger During Pregnancy

Pregnant women often face the difficult decision of whether to take antidepressants and risk the possibility of birth defects, or forgo depression treatment altogether. If certain women do not take care of depression during pregnancy, they may put themselves and their unborn child at risk. A pregnant woman who does not address depression may find it difficult to provide the optimal prenatal care and healthy lifestyle an unborn child needs to thrive. However, several medications used for the treatment of depression have been associated with fetal health problems.

In the United States, approximately one in six mothers is diagnosed with a major depressive disorder and is put on an antidepressant drug. Pregnancy often generates emotions that can make depression more difficult to manage. Bupropion, placed on the market by manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline as Wellbutrin, is a popular drug for the treatment of depression. Bupropion is also used as a smoking cessation aid under the brand name Zyban. However, Wellbutrin potentially could cause harm to an unborn child.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Wellbutrin in December 1985. However, in May 2010 reports of a possible link between the antidepressant drug and cardiac birth defects surfaced. Such reports appeared in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and indicated that about two out of every 1,000 women who took bupropion during the first trimester of their pregnancy faced an increased risk of heart birth defects. Additionally, the research team determined that of the babies born with a heart defect, 0.5 percent of the mothers reported using bupropion during the month prior to pregnancy or in their first trimester. The researcher’s findings emerged from the observation of over 12,700 babies born in the U.S. between 1997 and 2004. Data indicated that babies born to mothers who took bupropion in early pregnancy experienced more than double the risk for specific heart defects as compared to babies whose mothers did not take the drug.

Drug manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline and SmithKline Beecham generated worldwide sales revenues of over $1.1 billion from the drug Wellbutrin in 2001. Yet such manufactures clearly have not expended adequate funds on research to identify serious risks associated with the use of the popular antidepressant drug. Only after twenty-five years of consumers utilizing the drug unknowing of its risks, are researchers beginning to warn of the very real danger which Wellbutrin presents to pregnant mothers and their unborn children. However, this delayed identification of such birth defect risks associated with Wellbutrin is of no consolation to consumers who have already taken the drug, unaware of the possible negative side effects it may have. As a result of inadequate research efforts, the public has been placed unnecessarily in harm’s way.

Drug manufacturers, such as GlaxoSmithKline, need to expend more efforts to identify the potential negative side effects of the drugs it places onto the market so that consumers who use such drugs can be adequately informed of a drug’s risks. Once consumers become aware of the risks that a drug like Wellbutrin carries, they can make a more informed medical and personal decision concerning whether to take that drug. To effectively facilitate consumer knowledge and awareness, drug manufacturers need to engage in more research efforts. Engaging in such efforts surely will help drug manufacturers to meet the expectations of the public. More importantly, adequate research and health risk identification will prevent many people from being unnecessarily injured by dangerous drugs like Wellbutrin.

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