The anti-depressant drug Zoloft has been a prime cash generator for the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer since it first received approval from the FDA for use in the United States in 1991.
Unfortunately, Zoloft has also been a lightning rod for criticism and the allegations of many hundreds of patients that it is a flatly dangerous pharmaceutical product. Lawsuits that have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia routinely cite the materially adverse side effects associated with Zoloft, including birth defects across a wide spectrum.
A new claim from a New Jersey couple filed late last month has just been added to the MDL, with the parents alleging that their son born in August 2008 suffered various and severe birth defects from the mother’s use of Zoloft during pregnancy.
That couple and many other parents from across the country routinely assert that Pfizer was fully cognizant of such risks and did little or nothing to prevent them. On top of that, complaints against the company allege that it actively took steps to conceal negative information about Zoloft from the public.
The New Jersey couple’s complaint charges Pfizer with “negligently, intentionally and fraudulently misleading the medical community and the consuming public.”
The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages from Pfizer, as well as other relief from the court. Their complaint charges Pfizer with strict product liability, breach of both express and implied warranties, negligence, constructive fraud, deceptive trade practice and other criminal counts.
Source: The Pennsylvania Record, “N.J. couple files Zoloft products liability claim in MDL at U.S. Dist. Court in Phila.,” Jon Campisi, Dec. 28, 2012
