Zoloft Caused Daughter’s Birth Defects, Tennessee Parents Claim in Lawsuit

In a lawsuit against Pfizer that was recently added to the Zoloft MDL, parents Michael and Shana Reid of Tennessee charge that their daughter was born with birth defects resulting from Zoloft. The Reids originally filed their lawsuit on June 8, 2012, in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County, and the case was transferred to the Zoloft MDL in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on August 16, 2012.

Baby needed surgery for life-threatening defects

According to the Reid’s lawsuit, Shana Reid was prescribed Zoloft by her physician during her pregnancy. She read the drug’s warning label, but did not see anything about birth defects, so she trusted that the antidepressant was safe to use while pregnant. Had she been warned about the risk of birth defects resulting from Zoloft, she would not have taken it during her pregnancy, she states in the lawsuit.

The Reid’s baby was born on October 14, 2004 with life-threatening congenital birth defects, the lawsuit states. As a result, the child has undergone corrective surgery and is likely to require further surgeries in future.

Plaintiffs accuse Pfizer of failure to warn mothers of Zoloft’s risks

The Reid’s lawsuit alleges that Pfizer was aware of the risk of side effects after taking Zoloft, but failed to adequately warn the public or the medical community. Their lawsuit charges that Pfizer’s marketing and advertising for Zoloft misled pregnant women and their doctors by giving inaccurate or misleading information about the danger Zoloft poses to a fetus when the drug is taken during pregnancy.

The lawsuit bring counts of failure to warn, design defect, fraud, negligence, gross negligence, negligent design, and breach of warranties. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation in excess of $75,000 in damages.

FDA issued warning about Zoloft birth defects

The FDA issued a warning in July 2006 stating that studies had shown that babies born to mothers who took Zoloft or other SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy were six times more likely to be born with PPHN than babies born to mothers who did not take antidepressants.

The following year, a 2007 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that women who took Zoloft during the first trimester had double the risk of giving birth to an infant with heart defects, compared to those who did not take antidepressants.

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