When Faith Gibson’s daughter Meah was born with a hole in her heart in September 2005 she thought it was just the bad luck of the draw.
The Surrey mom held onto that belief throughout seven months of hospital visits, which didn’t end until well after the surgery that repaired her little girl’s heart defect.
But last October, the story of Katie Jane Bennison caught her eye. Ms. Bennison filed a writ against the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for failing to warn her of the risk of heart defects in newborns while she took the anti-anxiety drug Paxil during pregnancy — the same drug Gibson had taken while pregnant.
In a sad coincidence, Meah was born the same month the drug manufacturer issued a warning about the heightened risk of cardiovascular birth defects associated with Paxil.
“I basically was told [by my doctor], ‘Yeah, 100 per cent, it’s no problem. It’s the only drug approved to take for anxiety while you’re pregnant,’” Gibson said.
After reading about Bennison’s case, she decided to become the representative plaintiff for a pending class-action suit and filed her own writ against GSK in B.C. Supreme Court.
“I would never have taken [Paxil] had I been told,” said Gibson, who has been taking the prescribed medication since 2002.
She said as a result of her congenital malformation, her daughter continues to suffer from vulnerability to infections.
“My daughter has a huge, awful scar down her chest that will grow with her,” she said, adding Meah is also small for her size. “She’s little, and if there’s a cold or anything going around she gets it and she gets it way worse [than other children].”
Gibson’s lawsuit alleges that GSK “knew or ought to have known . . . that there was a significant risk of serious adverse cardiovascular complication for newborns from pregnant mothers ingesting Paxil” and that the hole in Meah’s heart was caused or contributed to by the use of Paxil.
Gibson’s lawyer, David Rosenberg, said part of what the suit will clarify is what GSK knew about the dangers of the drug and when. The company’s 2005 warning was issued after a large U.S. study found the rate of major birth defects, particularly heart-related defects, was twice as high in babies born to women who used paroxetine, Paxil’s generic name, in the first trimester. A Swedish study found the same result.
GlaxoSmithKline Canada has not offered a public statement about the claims and did not respond to The Province’s calls by deadline.
Rosenberg said the company has taken the position that it does not have to file a statement of defence until the action is certified as a class-action suit in B.C., which he estimates could take about a year.
If you or anyone you know has suffered from a birth injury or medical malpractice, contact an experienced personal injury attorney in Chicago today for your free initial consultation.
