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Topamax® Cleft Lip

If you were prescribed Topamax® while you were pregnant and your baby is born with cleft lip, cleft palate, or another birth defect, you should speak with an attorney about grounds for a lawsuit. Contact our Topamax® birth defect lawyers for help.

What Is Cleft Lip?

During its development, the fetus starts out with a split in the lip and palate that normally grows together between the sixth and eleventh week of pregnancy. Cleft lip is a treatable birth defect. The initial treatment is surgery.

The birth defect occurs early in the first trimester of the mother's pregnancy when the skin and related tissues of the upper lip, jaw, and nose do not join as they normally should. The failure to join leaves a space or cleft in the lip and nose where the tissue normally fuses.

Cleft lip usually occurs on only one side, rather than both sides of the upper lip. It is rare for it to occur in the lower lip. Cleft lip and palate are the most common birth defects of the head and neck and occur about once in every 1,000 children.

What Causes Cleft Lip?

The causes of cleft lip can be genetic and environmental. The defect more commonly occurs in families and certain environmental factor can contribute to it.

A mother's exposure to the following can increase the chances that her baby will be born with a cleft lip:

Certain medicines
Radiation
Infection
Some illegal drugs such as cocaine
Smoking
Drinking alcohol

Topamax® and Cleft Lip Risk

Topamax®, a medication to treat epilepsy, was recently found to increase a child's chances of being born with a cleft lip and palate. Other medications also can contribute to the chances of being born with a cleft lip. The FDA has notified healthcare professionals about the risk of cleft lip in Topamax® users and added a birth defect warning the drug's label.

Cleft lip/cleft palate (a condition when both defects occur) happens as part of more than 400 syndromes. A syndrome is when a collection of abnormal symptoms occur together. These include Waardenburg, Pierre Robin, and Down syndrome.

Because cleft lip/palate account for 30 percent of deformities associated with a syndrome, a complete medical assessment and genetic counseling are recommended for cleft patients according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology.

Cleft lip itself (unaccompanied by cleft palate) occurs in about 20 percent of all clefts.

Cleft Lip Treatment Options

Surgery is always necessary to treat cleft lip. Depending upon the baby and its particular cleft condition, surgery is usually done by the time a child is between 10 and 12 weeks old. Further surgeries may be done as the child grows older. They can be done to treat the condition of the mouth and to improve the appearance of the defect.

A cleft lip can affect a child's speech, physical and psychological development and treatment besides surgery often involves:

Speech pathologists
Hearing specialists
Dentists and orthodontists
Psychologists