Ohio Lawsuit Claims Zoloft Birth Defects

A couple has filed one of many Zoloft lawsuits  in the United States’ District Court for the Northern District of Ohio both individually and on behalf of their minor son against Zoloft drugmaker Pfizer, claiming that the drug manufacturing giant’s product is responsible for the birth defects their son has experienced. Zoloft is a popular antidepressant, part of a family of drugs known as SSRIs. These medications suppress the reuptake of serotonin in the brain, which can help the patient feel better and help symptoms of depression be alleviated. However, they have also been linked to a number of serious side effects, including birth defects resulting from Zoloft use.

Karen and Jim Doyle’s lawsuit was filed on the 2^nd of May, 2012, and is seeking to hold Pfizer liable for the serious heart defects their son J.D. was born with. According to the lawsuit, the drug making giant was aware of the link between Zoloft use and birth defects including heart and cranial defects, but they did not discourage the use of Zoloft by pregnant women.

Patient born with Zoloft heart defects

According to the lawsuit, Karen Doyle was prescribed Zoloft in April of 1996 in order to treat depression. She discovered about seven months later that she was pregnant, and because neither she nor her doctor were aware of any risks associated with Zoloft use during pregnancy, she continued to take the medication. Her son was born on the 1^st of August, 1997, with a malformed heart—he had to undergo surgery when he was only eight and a half months old, when he received his first cardiopulmonary bypass.

He received a second cardiopulmonary bypass in October of 2001, and had to undergo a third surgery in 2009 when he was 12 years old that implanted a dual chamber permanent pacemaker. According to the lawsuit filed by the Doyles, J.D. will have to undergo medical monitoring for the rest of his life.

Zoloft side effects pointed out in studies

A number of studies have shown the link between Zoloft and birth defects, but many lawsuits against Pfizer, of which there are an ever growing number, claim that the company actually suppressed information about the risk of serious side effects and other birth defects associated with use of the medication by pregnancy women. Pfizer still refuses to revise its drug labeling to include warning of many serious Zoloft birth defects.

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