A popular antiepileptic drug of choice among doctors is Topamax which was approved to treat epilepsy by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996. Its record as the leading anticonvulsant drug of Johnson & Johnson was marred after recent studies linked the drug to increased risk of infants to birth defects and a recent recall due to a musty odor emanating from the wooden pallets used for storing and shipping the medication. Johnson & Johnson, to divert attention away from recent recalls, has shifted attention to its recent drug approvals.
Designed by Ortho-McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, as a first line of defense against epilepsy is Topamax, the brand name of Topiramate, a seizure medication also called an anticonvulsant. Doctors often prescribed this antiepileptic drug as a monotherapy, a stand-alone drug, or as an adjunctive therapy which means it is taken together with other antiepileptic drugs. It could be used as a monotherapy to treat seizures in adults and children who are at least 10 years old. In adults and children who are at least 2 years old, it could be used in combination with other medications to treat seizures.
However, a study published in the United Kingdom in 2008 associating Topamax to the increase risk of infants, whose mothers took the drug during their pregnancy, to serious birth defects has spurned similar studies in the U.S. which yielded the same results. Cleft lip, cleft palate and the genital malformation known as hypospadias are among the birth defects said to develop in infants exposed to the drug while in their mothers wombs. Alarmed by these results, the FDA elevated the pregnancy category of the antiepileptic drug from C to D, meaning there is positive human evidence of the drug's potential to cause fetal malformations.
Before prescribing Topamax to women of childbearing age, healthcare professionals are urged by the FDA to carefully weigh the benefits and risks associated with the drug. Thorough discussion and consideration of alternative treatment is recommended for both doctors and their patients. Affected families of the Topamax side effects could demand for compensation by talking to a Topamax birth defects lawyer for Johnson & Johnsons failure to issue an early warning about the discovery of the side effects.
Designed by Ortho-McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, as a first line of defense against epilepsy is Topamax, the brand name of Topiramate, a seizure medication also called an anticonvulsant. Doctors often prescribed this antiepileptic drug as a monotherapy, a stand-alone drug, or as an adjunctive therapy which means it is taken together with other antiepileptic drugs. It could be used as a monotherapy to treat seizures in adults and children who are at least 10 years old. In adults and children who are at least 2 years old, it could be used in combination with other medications to treat seizures.
However, a study published in the United Kingdom in 2008 associating Topamax to the increase risk of infants, whose mothers took the drug during their pregnancy, to serious birth defects has spurned similar studies in the U.S. which yielded the same results. Cleft lip, cleft palate and the genital malformation known as hypospadias are among the birth defects said to develop in infants exposed to the drug while in their mothers wombs. Alarmed by these results, the FDA elevated the pregnancy category of the antiepileptic drug from C to D, meaning there is positive human evidence of the drug's potential to cause fetal malformations.
Before prescribing Topamax to women of childbearing age, healthcare professionals are urged by the FDA to carefully weigh the benefits and risks associated with the drug. Thorough discussion and consideration of alternative treatment is recommended for both doctors and their patients. Affected families of the Topamax side effects could demand for compensation by talking to a Topamax birth defects lawyer for Johnson & Johnsons failure to issue an early warning about the discovery of the side effects.
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