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Terbutaline (Brethine/Bricanyl) Side Effects Attorneys

In Maryland, Washington, D.C.,
Pennsylvania, and Delaware

If you were given terbutaline (also sold as Brethine and Bricanyl) during your preterm labor, your child could show signs of other serious side effects from the drug in addition to birth defects, brain damage, and developmental delay. These other side effects may include:

• autism
• speech defects
• movement disorders

Autism Caused by Terbutaline

Autism is a variable developmental disorder that can usually be diagnosed by age three. Autism is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships and to communicate with others, as well as by stereotyped behavior patterns.

Autistic children have communication difficulties, social interaction problems, and/or behavior control issues. The most severely affected children appear to live in their own world.

A mother of triplets who were all diagnosed with autism found evidence from scientific studies that determined that rats exposed to terbutaline during pregnancy developed neurological problems with effects similar to autism. Terbutaline usage during preterm labor seems to account for the increased risk of developing autism.

Another researcher also suggests that terbutaline may alter a developing infant's nervous system growth, which means that he or she could be at a greater risk of developing autism when exposed to various environmental substances.

Speech Defects Caused by Terbutaline

Speech defects occur when a child has a disorder of oral language. Speech disorders, or speech impediments as they are also called, are communication disorders where 'normal' speech is disrupted or developmentally delayed.

Types of speech defects consist of:

• articulation problems (such as a child's inability to produce certain sounds)
• stuttering and/or cluttering (a child speaks with rapid and/or slurred speech) and other issues with fluency
• voice disorders (including issues with a child's pitch, voice quality, and volume)
• delayed speech (characterized by a child's slow language development which can be one type of developmental delay)
• aphasia (a child's partial or total loss of the ability to speak or understand language)

Studies show that troubles with the brain development of an infant can occur after the mother is treated for preterm labor with terbutaline. Brain damage or nervous system damage may be a cause of speech defects.

Movement Disorders Caused by Terbutaline

A movement disorder consists of several conditions, many of them neurodegenerative, that prevent normal movement. Every body movement involves a complex interaction between the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), nerves, and muscles. Movement disorders come from damage to or malfunction of any of these components.

Studies done recently by Duke University Medical Center scientists indicate that when mother rats are exposed to terbutaline during their pregnancies, the terbutaline crosses the placenta and causes brain damage and cognitive deficits when entering the developing infant rat. Because neonatal rats are at a stage of neurodevelopment that corresponds to human fetal development, rat studies can show us what can happen in human development.

When giving terbutaline for preterm labor in mother rats, the effects that occur in newborn infant rats include abnormalities in the cerebellum (the part of the brain concerned especially with the coordination of muscles). Cerebellum damage causes incoordination or non-synchronization of your child's muscles, thus impairing movement.

If you were prescribed terbutaline (also known as Brethine or Bricanyl) for preterm labor, and your child has autism, speech defects or movement disorders, you may have a terbutaline side effects claim.

Please call or email our terbutaline side effects attorneys to schedule a free initial consultation and evaluation of your terbutaline injury case.