Mothers Regret Taking Zofran

Hattiesburg, MS“Getting money from the Zofran class-action lawsuit isn’t as important to me as getting the word out to the public about how dangerous this drug is,” says Lucy. Her daughter was born with clubfoot, a birth defect associated with Zofran.

“Even though he told me it is painless in a baby, my guilt was painful, especially when she had to get surgery.” If clubfoot is severe, treatment often requires an Achilles tenotomy, which is a minor procedure. A small cut is made to the Achilles tendon and it usually heals in about three weeks. But even minor surgery can be traumatic for parents.

Kiera took Zofran from the beginning of her pregnancy until the end of her second trimester. Her nausea was so severe that the dosage was increased after taking it for about 10 days. “My daughter was born on November 30, 2015. Since her birth, not a day goes by that I don’t regret taking Zofran,” she says. “She was born with clubfeet but we didn’t notice until she was about a month old. She has to wear braces for a while and then most likely surgery.

“We are also worried about a soft spot on her head. The pediatrician said most babies have soft spots and they go away, but it hasn’t gone away, and she’s seven months old. This is my first baby so I don’t know if this is another birth defect. As far as we know, everything else is normal…”

(Soft spots are called fontanels, which are gaps between the bones of a baby’s skull. They are normal, but it is understandable that a new mother is concerned. The fontanels help with the birthing process by giving baby’s head the flexibility needed to squeeze through the narrow birth canal. In most kids, the anterior fontanel closes anywhere from nine to 18 months of age.)

“When I saw a commercial on TV about Zofran birth defects I was shocked,” says Kiera. “Why didn’t my doctor tell me about this drug before he prescribed it? I feel so guilty - I should have lived with nausea. I plan on having another child so I’m just going to deal with morning sickness. And I will never take a medication again without doing a lot of research first.”

Doctors are still prescribing Zofran to pregnant women, likely because they believe the chances of birth defects are rare. But ask any mother whose baby was born with a birth defect and she will tell you the benefits do not outweigh the risks. Until more studies are undertaken, it is unclear of the percentage of infants that may have birth defects associated with Zofran. If Kiera hadn’t seen the Zofran warning on TV, she may not have known. And she likely would be prescribed the anti-nausea drug again…