Zoloft Lawsuit Filed Following Death of Couple’s Child

A couple in Missouri has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Pfizer, alleging that the mother’s use of the antidepressant Zoloft during pregnancy led to their child suffer severe Zoloft birth defects and heart problems that were eventually fatal. According to the complaint, Peska was given Zoloft during her pregnancy, which caused her child to be born with a number of heart defects in October of 2009. By the following day, the baby was dead. A number of other Zoloft side effects birth defect lawsuits filed in recent months raise similar allegations that Pfizer failed to adequately warn about the risk of problems with their medication, and that the drug maker continues to refuse to properly warn pregnant women to avoid the antidepressant.

Zoloft (sertraline) is a second generation antidepressant that is made by Pfizer, which is part of a class of medications known as SSRI antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Generic Zoloft equivalents are also available from a number of drug makers. According to allegations raised in Zoloft lawsuit settlements over Zoloft, the drug makers failed to adequately research the effect of the medication when used during pregnancy
and did not provide warnings to consumers or the medical community that Zoloft during pregnancy may leave children with serious and potentially fatal health problems.In June 2007, studies found an association between the use of antidepressants like Zoloft early in the pregnancy and a risk of abnormal skull development, gastrointestinal abnormality and brain defects.

Other SSRIs include Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro and others. In 2006, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) asked the manufacturers of several SSRI antidepressants to add information to their labels describing the potential risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) after a study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found a six-fold increased risk of the disorder among infants born to mothers who took an antidepressant in the last trimester of pregnancy. Despite a number of studies and reports suggesting a potential link between Zoloft and birth defects, the manufacturers have failed to provide sufficient information to pregnant women or women of child-bearing potential, so that steps could be taken to avoid using Zoloft while pregnant.