Codeine

Codeine has been linked to birth defects. As an opiate, codeine is used for many reasons and conditions, including:

• Suppress pain, coughing, hypertension, and anxiety
• Treat diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome
• Act as a sedative
• Skin irritation
• Suppress premature labor contractions

Codeine is often paired up with other medications, such as Tylenol, ibuprofen, and NSAIDs.

Codeine and Birth Defects

In 2011, findings obtained by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, demonstrating that codeine taken during a woman's pregnancy increases the chances of her baby being born with a heart defect or other birth defects.

In fact, opioid drugs like codeine were found to increase the risk of several types of cardiac (heart) defects (such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome) and:

• Spina bifida and similar neural tube defects
• Hydrocephaly ("water on the brain," or more accurately, an abnormal amount of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain's ventricles)
• Congenital (present at birth) glaucoma: increased fluid pressure in the eyes

Previous studies has also found a link between codeine use and birth defects, but the 2011 study from the CDC examined a very large number of births — the cases of nearly 17,500 babies with birth defects, and 6,700 babies without birth defects.

Codeine Use During Pregnancy

Although most women try to minimize the use of medications during their pregnancies in order to minimize the risks for their infants, sometimes:

• A woman must use a prescription medication, on the advice of her physician, or
• A woman uses a medication before she realizes that she is pregnant (and the first trimester is an especially crucial time in a fetus' development)

The Flood Law Group Can Help

The parents of children born with serious birth defects have many difficult matters to deal with — the legal rights of their children among them. The attorneys of the Flood Law Group are highly skilled, compassionate legal professionals whose primary goal is to fully protect your rights and those of your child. If your baby is diagnosed with a birth defect and you would like to find out if you qualify for a birth defect lawsuit, schedule a free consultation with an attorney at our firm today.