Several studies have been conducted to determine the cause of autism in children which has remained unknown.Heredity, cited around 90 percent of the time, and childhood immunizations, were believed to be the causes of autism. Despite several clinical studies, no scientific evidence associating Immunization and autism was shown.
Recently, Anne Harding’s article published in the Cable News Network website, reported on several studies linking autism with antidepressant drugs. Children whose mothers are under antidepressant medication like Zoloft during pregnancy are twice as likely as other children to be diagnosed with autism or other related disorder, it say In other current news reports, another Pfizer antidepressant drug has been blamed for causing the death of an infant.
What is not safe during pregnancy is the intake of an antidepressant like the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which Zoloft belongs. Harding said that children who were exposed to the drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy were nearly four times likely to develop an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than with unexposed children, according to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Major depressive illness, anxiety disorders, the depressed phase of bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression are the mental illness for which SSRI, a class of antidepressant drugs, is used as a treatment.
The experts on prenatal drug exposure and mental health said that the findings will need to be confirmed in larger studies which women who are starting or continuing SSRIs use will not be discouraged, Hardings wrote.
On the other hand, there are two reasons presented by Lisa Croen, Ph. D, the director of autism research at Kaiser Permanente North California, who said there is a need for an investigation First, the number of autistic is increasing over the past several decades. Second, basing on the previous studies, it suggest that people with autism have abnormalities in their level and regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in mood and many other biological processes.
Though, there is still no medical evidence made available associating SSRIs with Autism. Unless a credible evidence being established, the chances of any Zoloft Lawsuit may not prosper.