First Zoloft Birth Defect Trial Set for November 2014 The first trial in the mu…

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Principal Law Group, LLP First Zoloft Birth Defect Trial Set for November 2014

The first trial in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) established for all Zoloft birth defect lawsuits filed in federal courts is set to go before a jury in November 2014.

At this time more than 420 personal injury lawsuits against Pfizer have been consolidated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania before U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe. All of the lawsuits were filed on behalf of families with children born with serious congenital birth defects allegedly caused by the popular antidepressant. The suits are based on claims that Pfizer failed to provide adequate warnings about the risks linked to Zoloft.

Twenty-five of the cases were selected by Pfizer and the plaintiffs’ lawyers appointed as leadership counsel in the MDL as part of an “Initial Discovery Pool” and are in the process of pretrial discovery.

On Nov. 18, Judge Rufe issued a Pretrial Order which amended the schedule for selecting the first cases to appear before juries and delayed the start of the first trial by roughly three weeks, setting the first Zoloft birth defect trial to begin on Nov. 3, 2014.