Motion For Summary Judgment That Resulted In Dismissal Of Zoloft Birth Defect MDL Cases
Pfizer, Inc. manufactured and sold Zoloft, a drug consisting of Sertraline Hydrochloride, which was used to treat depression and anxiety. A few of the women who took Zoloft during pregnancy gave birth to children who suffered from heart defects and some other birth defects. Some of these women filed federal product liability actions against Pfizer, and on April 17, 2012, the Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred nine civil actions to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C.S. $ S 1407. After that time, 117 additional actions were transferred to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. With the consent of that court, all such actions were assigned to the Honorable Cynthia M. Rufe.
For the next few years, the parties conducted discovery as to general medical causation and filed Daubert motions relating to expert opinions on issues common to all the actions. On June 27, 2014, Judge Rufe granted defendants' motion to exclude testimony from plaintiffs' epidemiology expert, Anick Berard. On Aug. 12, 2014, Judge Rufe excluded certain opinions from three other plaintiffs' experts, including Dr. Robert Cabrera (a teratologist), Dr. Michael Levin (a molecular developmental biologist), and Dr. Thomas Sadler (an embryologist). The Court concluded that these experts could not testify that Zoloft caused birth defects in humans but could testify as to the limited question of the existence of plausible biological mechanisms by which altered concentrations of serotonin in a developing embryo could cause birth defects. Accordingly, they could not testify as to epidemiological evidence. Because Dr. Berard's report and testimony had been excluded, those three experts could not rely on her conclusions or testify as to human causation. Judge Rufe then denied plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration of the exclusion of Dr. Berard's report. With plaintiffs' ability to prove causation in jeopardy, Pfizer filed a Dec. 3, 2015 motion for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of all plaintiffs' claims.
On April 5, 2016, Judge Rufe granted the motion for summary judgment, finding that the plaintiffs failed to produce any reliable scientific evidence demonstrating that Zoloft causes the injuries they alleged.
For more information about the case, including counsel, please see the Jury Verdict summary on Lexis Advance: In Re: Zoloft (Sertraline Hydrochloride) Products Liability Litigation; 2016 Jury Verdicts LEXIS 2030
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