Zoloft Lawsuit Claims Failure to Warn

A new lawsuit filed by a Zoloft plaintiff claims that drug maker Pfizer has failed to warn patients about the risk of potential birth defects associated with the popular antidepressant medication, despite mounting evidence surrounding the connection between birth defects and use of the medication by pregnant women. The plaintiff says that multiple studies and anecdotal reports have linked the use of Zoloft to birth defects such as heart defects and persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn, the drug maker refuses to supply the medical community or the public with adequate warnings about the possibility of birth defects resulting from Zoloft use.

Side effects cited in lawsuit

Jessica Kipp, the plaintiff in this complaint, filed her lawsuit in the United States’ District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 13, 2012. The case was transferred to the multidistrict litigation case taking place in the United States’ District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on the 3rd of August, 2012, where it joins almost 100 other lawsuits filed by parents who claim their children were born with serious birth defects related to the use of Zoloft by the pregnant mother.

Kipp claims that she was unaware that the medication could cause any problems for her unborn child, and therefore took the SSRI drug during pregnancy. She says that it was many years after her child was born with birth defects that she discovered the potential link between those birth defects and her use of Zoloft while she was pregnant. According to her lawsuit, the plaintiff was already taking Zoloft when she discovered she was pregnant, and continued to take the medication during the first three months of her pregnancy.

Lawsuits in search of settlements

Zoloft is approved for the treatment of several psychological disorders, including depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder. It is one of the more commonly used psychiatric medications. Hundreds of patients are likely to have experienced side effects from it and, like plaintiff Kipp, are seeking compensation for injuries suffered by themselves or loved ones. Zoloft settlements could help patients deal with the financial costs of their side effects.

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