Genital Malformation from Depakote Side Effects

Washington, DCOne of the birth defects linked to use of the anti-seizure drug Depakote is hypospadias. It's a medical term that affords little insight into what it represents on its own. And yet its reality can have a devastating effect on both mother and child—and results in a deviation from a norm that the vast percentage of males have come to know as the status quo.

And that is, the opening of the urethra at the end of the penis. In children born of mothers having been prescribed Depakote (valproic acid) for epileptic seizures, the opening is at the bottom—just one of a handful of Depakote side effects you read about in the newspaper or hear about on the news. And yet, to a family affected by this particular defect, it can be devastating.

ABC News reported in June on European research that identified six types of birth defects linked to use of Depakote in the first trimester of pregnancy. Even though researchers found that the absolute risk of Depakote birth defects was low, the risks associated with the six identified birth defects were described as "'significant"' nonetheless.

Those risks ranged from spina bifida (12 times, over mothers who did not use Depakote), to polydactyly (more than five digits on one hand, at twice the risk).

The risk of hypospadias was noted as five times higher than with infants born of mothers who had not taken valproic acid. The ABC News report did not specify if the misplaced opening of the urethra at the bottom of the penis could be altered with corrective surgery.

However, any Depakote birth defect—including cleft palate, atrial septal defect (a heart condition) or craniosynostosis (a condition in which the bones in the skull close too early)—represents a hardship and heartbreak for the families involved. Often it results in a call to an attorney for filing a Depakote lawsuit.

Researchers in the European observational study undertook a focus of 98,000 pregnancies through prior studies as compared with an antiepileptic-study database established by the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies. While absolute risks remained low, the researcher's findings in this observational study support prior recommendations by the American Academy of Neurology that pregnant women avoid use of valproic acid (Depakote) during pregnancy.

The observational study findings were reported in the June 10, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Regardless of whether or not hypospadias—the genital malformation involving male babies—can be corrected with surgery, the fact remains that a genital malformation is a horrific deformity that lay at the very foundation of an individual's sense of self. Other Depakote birth defects, such as cleft palate, can be corrected with surgery—but can also result in permanent scarring that the child, now grown, will have to live with for the remainder of his natural life.

Attorneys remind us that there may be deformities from Depakote side effects that one can't readily see. Such is the reason, for any woman who may have taken Depakote during pregnancy without knowing the risks, to seek medical help in determining that all is well, and to seek the services of a Depakote attorney as necessary.