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An Effexor birth defect lawsuit filed by a Mississippi mother claims that her daughter was born with serious birth defects following ingestion of the SNRI antidepressant during pregnancy. She claims that failure of Pfizer to warn about the birth defects proved costly for her daughter, who now requires life-long medical support to lead a normal life. Her doctor, in the absence of any tangible information on possible side effects, suggested Effexor as safe drug to treat depression while she was pregnant.
Billie Miles took Effexor antidepressant for five months until December 23, 2008 when she felt labor pain. Her daughter was born with severe respiratory and heart deformities, common symptoms of an “Effexor baby,” and was kept under intensive neonatal care for weeks. The child even underwent critical surgeries to stay alive.
The Effexor birth defect lawsuit seeks product liability on the ground that “Effexor causes birth defects and delays developmental milestones in children whose mothers digest the drug during pregnancy and Pfizer refuses to acknowledge that the antidepressant causes the problems and refuses to adequately warn consumers and healthcare providers of these serious adverse risks.”
“The drug is unreasonably dangerous/defective drug as specified by Mississippi law due to (Pfizer’s) failure to adequately warn patients and their physicians and the manufacturer acted with gross negligence which evidences a willful, wanton or reckless disregard for the safety of others, entitling both mother and daughter to punitive damages,” according to the Effexor lawyer representing the plaintiff.
Effexor Lawsuit: Ohio Mother Seeks Damages
Another Effexor birth defect lawsuit representing an Ohio mother and her daughter seeks product liability claiming that the drug is “defective, dangerous to human health, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold in commerce and lacked proper warnings as to the dangers associated with its use.” The child was born with “cardiac anomalies, including an atrial septal defect, as well as other conditions.” The mother took daily dosage of Effexor antidepressant throughout her pregnancy after her doctor prescribed it.
The lawsuit asserts that doctors prescribe Effexor to pregnant women as there is no information “listed about any birth defects and other serious pregnancy issues associated with the use of Effexor or emphasized within the Effexor prescribing information and/or drug label, which make many to believe that Effexor was safe for use during pregnancy and would not cause birth defects.”
The birth defect lawsuit has named Wyeth and Pfizer, manufacturer of Effexor, as defendants and sought compensation for medical and other expenses warranted by the heart deformities in her daughter. She also claims an unspecified amount as general, special, and punitive damages.
Effexor Birth Defects in Children
- Congenital heart defects
- Respiratory distress
- Cranial deformities
- Neural tube defects
- Brain and neurological disorders
- Malformation in vertebra, skull, and anus
- Cleft lip or palate
- Septal defects
- Anencephaly
- Clubfoot
- Spina bifida
- Autism
- Developmental delays
Effexor Lawsuit
Large numbers of Effexor lawsuits have come to fore with the spate of antidepressant birth defect research reports released in the recent years. The foremost allegation against the manufacturer is that it did not adequately warn doctors, consumers, FDA, or public at large about side effects Effexor can cause in pregnant women. Thousands of mothers, who did everything possible to keep the fetus free from any adverse impact, were betrayed by Effexor manufacturer, as the drug label information had no information on birth defects.
Plaintiffs are more aggrieved over the fact that the manufacturer “knew of the dangerous birth defects associated with Effexor’s use during pregnancy from the preclinical studies and the subsequent published studies confirming these risks. Pfizer and Wyeth took no action to adequately warn or remedy the risks, but instead concealed, suppressed and failed to disclose the dangers.”
Children born with Effexor birth defects and their parents suffered from fatal and non-fatal consequences, anguish, emotional pain, and economic losses, as Wyeth and Pfizer “failed to fully, truthfully, and accurately disclose Effexor birth defect data and as a result negligently, intentionally and fraudulently misled the medical community and physicians.”
No amount of compensation can reverse Effexor birth defects. However, a product liability lawsuit citing “failure to warn, design defect, negligence, negligent design, fraud, breach of warranty, gross negligence, loss of consortium, and violation of Consumer Sales Practices Acts” can alleviate the pain to some extent and punish the guilty. It can also assure recovery of past and future medical costs. Economic damages may also help lead a life with “disability, disfigurement, impairment of working ability, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment, and constant medical care.”
To know about the process for filing Effexor lawsuit and pursue defective medical device product liability claims for financial and non-financial damages citing drug maker’s actions and inactions, please contact us or call on 1-800-632-1404.
Contact an Effexor Birth Defect Lawyer Today.
If your child was born with a birth defect and you or a loved one took Zoloft during the first trimester or pregnancy, please contact us immediately.
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