Zofran Lawsuits Link Anti-Nausea Drug To Various Serious Congenital Birth Defects

December 17, 2015 – – ZofranLegal.com reports on almost 200 lawsuits which have been filed against Zofran manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The pharmaceutical giant is accused of “off-label” marketing of the drug, which has been alleged to cause birth defects to develop when exposed to fetuses growing in the womb through their mothers. Due to their synonymous allegations, these lawsuits were consolidated by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to form multidistrict litigation number 2657. They are being overseen in Boston, Massachusetts by the Honorable Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV.

Complaints have been filed by concerned parents of babies that were born with a range of serious congenital birth defects after their mothers were prescribed anti-nausea medication Zofran while pregnant. In general, the mothers state that they used the drug during their first trimester, a time when morning sickness is most common. Coincidentally, this is also a time when the fetus does much of its limb, heart, and mouth tissue development.

Plaintiffs state that exposure to Zofran caused their children to be born with severe defects. Defects most commonly mentioned in the lawsuits are cleft lip and palate, tetralogy of fallot, transposition of the greater vessels, atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect, clubfoot, respiratory distress, and kidney defects. Some defects have proven fatal, and parents involved have lost their children, while others require multiple, very expensive corrective surgeries.

Many plaintiffs question why they were given Zofran to treat their morning sickness in the first place. This is known as an “off-label” prescription as the drug was never FDA-approved or tested for safety on pregnant women. In fact, Zofran was only approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1991 to treat patients suffering from nausea and vomiting after undergoing cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation, or surgeries involving anesthesia. After this approval, GlaxoSmithKline marketed their anti-nausea drug to expectant mothers and Ob/Gyns across the nation. Since this time, it is estimated that Zofran is prescribed “off-label’ to around 1 million pregnant women each year.

Due to the sheer volume of these prescriptions, it is expected that Zofran birth defect lawsuit numbers will continue to increase. In the meantime, the attorneys at Monheit Law are working to ensure that everyone involved will have the opportunity to fully explore their legal rights. Pregnant women who were prescribed Zofran and who subsequently gave birth to babies with congenital defects may be entitled to substantial compensation. To help these individuals, Monheit Law is offering them free legal consultations at this time.

To obtain additional information about the Zofran lawsuits, or to ask questions, please call Attorney Michael Monheit, lead attorney at Monheit Law at (877) 620-8411.

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Contact ZofranLegal.com:

Michael Monheit
1-877-620-8411
michael@monheit.com
1368 Barrowdale Road, Rydal, PA 19046

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