Zoloft Lawsuit Over Life-Threatening PPHN

Zoloft is one of the more commonly used medications in the United States, as it is approved to treat a number of relatively common psychological disorders including depression and anxiety. A number of women turned to Zoloft for relief from depression and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy, which can be triggered by an increase or fluctuation in hormones. Some of these women found out too late that Zoloft can have a serious impact on the health of an unborn child, especially when it is taken in the first trimester of pregnancy. One of the most dangerous Zoloft birth defect side effects is the possibility of an unborn child developing Zoloft persistent pulmonary hypertension.

Warnings on Zoloft Birth Defects Softened by FDA

In recent allegations made during Zoloft Lawsuits, plaintiffs have said they took Zoloft because they believed it to be a safe medication for women to ingest while pregnant. Instead, their babies were born with Zoloft Side Effects such as heart defects, neural tube defects, gastroschisis, omphalocele, craniosynostosis, cleft lip, club foot, anal atresia and limb reduction defects, but now the FDA has indicated that conflicting studies make it premature to reach any conclusions. On December 14, the FDA issued a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug safety communication, indicating that the drug labels will be updated for the entire class of medications, which includes Zoloft. The FDA will update warning labels about the potential link between SSRI antidepressants and PPHN to reflect the new data and conflicting results.

Recent studies had found that women who took Zoloft during pregnancy were more likely to give birth to babies experiencing Zoloft birth defects than women who take other antidepressants or women who do not take any antidepressants during pregnancy. These Zoloft side effects can be life-threatening and include serious health problems such as Zoloft heart defects. Now, many women are investigating filing their own Zoloft lawsuit, alleging the company did not properly warn them about the risks associated with taking the antidepressant during pregnancy. The FDA told doctors that they must weigh for themselves the potential risks and benefits of prescribing an antidepressant from the SSRI family to a pregnant mother, noting that untreated depression can also lead to poor birth outcomes.

More recently, momentum has been building for Zoloft lawsuits over Pfizer’s failure to warn about the risk of birth defects when taken during pregnancy. Plaintiffs have asserted that Pfizer knew or should have known that Zoloft crosses the placenta, which could have important implications for the developing fetus. The complaints accused Pfizer of knowing of the dangers but failing to inform the public. In fact, plaintiffs have alleged that Pfizer marketed Zoloft as the safest anti-depressant on the market for expectant mothers. plaintiffs allege strict products liability, breach of express warranty, negligence, misrepresentation by omission, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and misrepresentation, fraud by concealment, violation of consumer protection laws and breach of implied warranties against Pfizer.

Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension Risk with Zoloft Sited in FDA Studies

Zoloft is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to treat major depression, social anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults and OCD in 6 to 17 year olds. The popular anti-anxiety drug has also been linked to severe side effects in fetuses of women taking it during pregnancy. Federal health regulators have previously warned that the use of SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy may cause a rare heart and lung birth defect, known as persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns (PPHN), but now indicate that conflicting studies make it premature to reach any conclusions. A Zoloft lawyer is likely to use statistics found in the 2006 study when seeking a settlement in a Zoloft PPHN lawsuit.

Zoloft and similar drugs, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressants, operate by raising levels of serotonin, which plays a role in the development of the fetus. A number of studies have linked SSRI antidepressants, including Zoloft, to birth defects. In July 2006, the FDA warned that women who use the antidepressant Zoloft after the 20th week of pregnancy are six times more likely to give birth to a child with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. PPHN is a birth defect that results in newborns being unable to adapt to breathing outside of the womb. They frequently require intensive care and the use of a mechanical ventilator to help them breathe. Severe cases of PPHN can result in multiple organ damage, brain damage and death.

Treatment of PPHN often involves use of a ventilator or providing 100% oxygen to the baby. This helps open the arteries leading to the lungs. In more extreme cases, the newborn’s blood may be fed through a machine which adds oxygen and removes carbon dioxide. Momentum has been building for Zoloft lawsuits over Pfizer’s failure to warn about the risk of birth defects when taken during pregnancy. Potential side effects of Zoloft for unborn children have been reported to occur when the drug is taken as early as the first trimester, a time when many women do not even realize they are pregnant.