Accutane Birth Defects

Potential Accutane Birth Defects Include Heart Defects

Physicians prescribe Accutane to treat serious nodular acne after other treatments have failed. Potential Accutane birth defects are so serious that the drug is only available under the iPLEDGE program. This program requires women of child-bearing age to sign an agreement promising that they will use two forms of birth control and undergo regular pregnancy testing while taking the drug.

Accutane Birth Defects

Anyone taking acne during pregnancy has an increased risk of giving birth to a child with Accutane birth defects. Possible defects include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Impaired hearing and vision
  • Improper formation of the nervous system
  • Heart defects
  • Body deformities
  • Glandular malformations
  • Facial deformities
  • Mental retardation

Consequences of Heart Defects

One of the most serious Accutane birth defects is the presence of congenital heart defects. These heart defects develop during gestation. Congenital heart defects have the potential to slow down blood flow, block blood flow completely or cause blood to flow in the wrong direction. Heart defects can also affect the heart walls and valves.

List of Heart Defects

The following Accutane birth defects can damage the veins, arteries and chambers of the heart.

  • Atrial septal defect
  • Aortic stenosis
  • Hyperplastic left heart syndrome
  • Atrioventricular canal defect
  • Pulmonary atresia
  • Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection
  • Pulmonary stenosis
  • Patent ductus arteriosus
  • Tetralogy of Fallot
  • Transposition of the great arteries
  • Coarctation of the aorta
  • Ventricular septal defect
  • Tricuspid atresia
  • Truncus arteriosus

Heart Defect Complications

Some Accutane birth defects are easily treated with surgery and regular monitoring. Other heart defects cause serious complications that require life-long care. Children born with these Accutane birth defects may have trouble finding steady employment or obtaining steady insurance coverage as adults.

Treatment for Accutane Birth Defects

Children with Accutane birth defects may need catheter procedures or surgery to correct the heart defects. Catheter procedures eliminate the need to open the chest and repair the defect. Open-heart surgery allows surgeons to repair heart valves, close holes in the heart, repair blood vessel damage and widen the openings to valves. In some cases, Accutane birth defects are too complex to repair surgically. Children with these complex heart defects may need heart transplants to survive.

If you used Accutane and gave birth to a child with a heart defect, contact one of Chaffin Luhana LLP’s lawyers for a confidential case review. Call 1-888-480-1223 without delay to talk to one of our experienced attorneys free of charge.