Zoloft Manufacturer Requests Consolidation

The manufacturer of popular antidepressant Zoloft is facing a number of lawsuits regarding the product from patients who have experienced adverse side effects after taking the drug. Now, drug maker Pfizer is requesting that 59 lawsuits relating to Zoloft birth defects, one of the more commonly cited Zoloft side effects in these lawsuits, be consolidated into a multidistrict litigation case. The request was filed in a motion with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on January 18th, 2012.

Pfizer requests location for Zoloft MDL

Pfizer has requested that Zoloft multidistrict litigation, if it is approved, take place in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, but also suggested the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi and the Northern District of Ohio as other possible locations for Zoloft multidistrict litigation. 

A multidistrict litigation case would allow one federal judge to handle more than one Zoloft lawsuit, especially if the lawsuits dealt with similar circumstances or side effects. This would help plaintiffs and defendants reach consensuses about settlements and other matters in a more efficient way, as pretrial processes would be combined in similar cases so that litigation could move more quickly through the legal system. Pfizer is arguing that consolidating cases into a multidistrict litigation lawsuit would be beneficial to plaintiffs and defendants alike. 

Zoloft birth defects of concern for litigants

A number of plaintiffs have already filed suit against Pfizer because of side effects related to Zoloft, including Zoloft birth defects. Studies have shown that Zoloft use by pregnant women, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy, can lead to a significant upswing in the number of birth defects seen in newborns. Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects, omphalocele, developmental delays, neural tube defects, and craniosynostosis are all Zoloft-linked birth defects that are showing up in Zoloft birth defect lawsuits. 

What would consolidation of Zoloft lawsuits mean?

Pfizer is requesting that Zoloft litigation take place in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York due to its proximity to the headquarters of the corporation. This court has significant experience handling multidistrict litigation cases, having dealt with more than 100 since 1977.

The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has scheduled a hearing to take place on the 31st of May of this year in order to deliberate the proposed Zoloft multidistrict litigation consolidation.