Zoloft Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over Child Born with Birth Defects

A Missouri couple 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 birth defects and heart problems that were eventually fatal. 

The Zoloft lawsuit was filed by Paula Peska and Scott Day in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 26.

According to the complaint, Peska was given Zoloft during her pregnancy, which caused her child to be born with a number of heart defects on October 27, 2009. By the following day, the baby was dead.

The newborn was diagnosed as having Tetralogy of Fallot, truncus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, confluent branch pulmonary arteries, pulmonary valve atresia and other cardiopulmonary defects that were allegedly caused by side effects of Zoloft.

The family alleges that Pfizer knew, but intentionally covered up, data for years that points to the conclusion that Zoloft is dangerous for pregnant women and their unborn children.

A number of other Zoloft 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.

“Pfizer knew of the dangerous birth defects associated with Zoloft use during pregnancy from the preclinical studies and the subsequent published studies confirming these risks. Pfizer took no action to properly study Zoloft or did not properly publish the results of studies it did do, which would have reflected that risk,” the lawsuit states. “Pfizer failed to adequately warn or remedy the risks, but instead concealed, suppressed and failed to disclose the dangers. Even in the face of numerous published studies, Pfizer continues to deny these dangers and will not revise its drug labeling.”

Zoloft (sertraline) is a popular second-generation antidepressant introduced by Pfizer in 1991 for the treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety. By 2007 there were nearly 30 million prescriptions, making it the most prescribed antidepressant in the United States. Zoloft belongs to a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

In recent years, a growing amount of research and adverse event reports have suggested that use of Zoloft during pregnancy may increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening health problems for babies, including persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns (PPHN), heart defects, lung defects, abdominal defects, cranial defects and other malformations.

Studies have suggested that Zoloft may increase the risk of birth defects when used as early as the first trimester of pregnancy, a time when many women do not even know they are pregnant.