Pfizer Report Could Change Outcome of Zoloft Birth Defects Lawsuit

Washington, DCPfizer may have been warned by a company drug safety official about a potential link between the antidepressant drug Zoloft and birth defects and recommended changes to the medication’s safety warning. Pfizer is currently facing over 1,000 Zoloft birth defect lawsuits, which allege the medication is responsible for newborn abnormalities including congenital heart defects.

Zoloft, known generically as sertraline, was once the most prescribed antidepressant in the US. It is used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Pfizer has successfully defended itself in the first lawsuit to go to trial in April. However, the disclosure of the document last week in a Philadelphia case may change things.

Pfizer researchers also acknowledged in a 1998 report, which has been introduced into evidence in the Philadelphia trial, they’d found more than a dozen side-effect reports about babies’ birth defects for which their mothers’ Zoloft use couldn’t be ruled out as a cause. Bloomberg reports.