Zoloft Birth Defect Lawsuit Filed for Child’s Wrongful Death

January 14, 2013 — A family from Wisconsin has filed a Zoloft birth defect lawsuit on behalf of Aubry Eaton, an infant girl who was born with severe birth defects related to her exposure to Zoloft in the womb.

Aubry was born on January 6, 2010 with severe birth defects of the brain, hydrocephalous, and pulmonary hypoplasia, which caused her death on the same day. Her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Pfizer, the manufacturer of Zoloft.

The lawsuit alleges that Zoloft is defective, unsafe, and lacks proper warnings about the serious risks. It also claims that Pfizer knew or should have known from available information that SSRI antidepressants, including Zoloft, pose an increased risk of many congenital birth defects. Furthermore, it alleges that Pfizer should have known that most physicians were not aware of the risk of birth defects.

The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where it joins more than 250 additional Zoloft lawsuits filed on behalf of other children with serious Zoloft birth defects. All of the lawsuits make similar allegations, which is why they have been centralized into one federal court in a Multi-District Litigation (MDL). The first trials in the litigation are scheduled for September 2014.

According to the complaint:

“Despite having extensive knowledge of the extreme risks associated with Zoloft and/or Sertraline usage, as well as the duty to properly and adequately warn foreseeable users, Defendants have never approached the FDA to alter the label for Zoloft and/or Sertraline and, thus, have taken no action to properly and adequately warn of the risks of birth defects associated with Zoloft and/or Sertraline usage during pregnancy.”