Despite several studies, the cause of autism in children is still 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.

Several studies associating autism with antidepressant drugs was mentioned by Anne Harding  in the article published recently in the Cable News Network website.  It stated that children whose mothers are under antidepressant medication like Zoloft while pregnant are twice as likely as other children to be diagnosed with autism or other related disorder. In other current news reports, another Pfizer antidepressant drug has been blamedfor causing the death of an infant.

Zoloft belongs to a class of antidepressants which is the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors which is considered as risky during pregnancy.  According to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry that children who were exposed to the drugs during the first trimester were nearly four times likely to develop an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than with unexposed children, Hardings say.

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.

Harding also mentioned that the experts on prenatal drug exposure and mental health said that findings will need to be confirmed in larger studies, and should not dissuade women from starting or continuing SSRIs use.

On the other hand, there are two reasons why Lisa Croen, Ph. D,  the director of autism research at Kaiser Permanente North California and her colleagues wants to put SSRI-autism under investigation.First, autism among children is growing over the couple of years.  Second, evidence from previous studies suggests that people with autism have abnormalities in their levels and regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in mood and many other biological processes.

However, there is still no medical evidence proving the link of SSRIs and autism. The success of any Zoloft lawsuit will depend on the evidences that can be gathered about SSRIs causing autism in children.


REFERENCES:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/04/antidepressant.pregnancy.autism.risk/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_autism