An birth defect lawsuit filed against Zoloft drug maker Pfizer has a scheduled trial date of March 2016.

The Zoloft lawsuit alleges that the popular antidepressant caused birth defects due to fetal exposure.

The Zoloft lawsuit is part of a multi district litigation, or MDL, that centralized hundreds of similar cases into a multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The birth defect lawsuits all claim that Pfizer failed to warn about the risk of taking the mood-stabilizing medication while pregnant.

Plaintiffs have alleged that taking Zoloft while pregnant caused various birth defects, including abdominal wall defects and heart defects such as pulmonary stenosis, right ventricular hypoplasia, ventricular septal defect, and complex congenital heart disease.

During the MDL discovery process attorneys for the plaintiffs came across internal memos from Pfizer suggesting that the company was informed by their research scientists that Zoloft could cause birth defects. However, Pfizer argues that the documents were taken out of context.

In general, plaintiffs who have filed an SSRI lawsuit claim that they would not have taken Zoloft had they been informed of the birth defect risks.

SSRI Birth Defect Risks

Zoloft belongs to a class of medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). It was approved to treat various medical conditions including depression, panic disorders, anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

SSRI medications work by preventing neurotransmitters from being absorbed into the nerve cell. This helps improve communication between nerve cells, which in turn helps regulate a patient’s mood. However, recent studies have found that SSRI drugs may be linked to an increased risk of birth defects.

In a study published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that women taking an SSRI while pregnant had a greater chance of giving birth to a child born with a heart, skull or brain defect if taken early in pregnancy.

The study analyzed the medical records of more than 38,000 women who gave birth between 1997 and 2009. From the data collected, researchers looked at those women who had a child born with a birth defect and found out if they were taking an SSRI during pregnancy.

The study concluded that women taking the SSRI medications Paxil or Prozac had a 2 to 3.5 times increased risk of birth defects including heart wall defects, skull defects, and abdominal wall defects.

Birth Defect Lawsuits

The Zoloft multidistrict litigation is not the only SSRI birth defect litigation taking place against drug manufacturers. More than 1,000 birth defect lawsuits have been filed across the U.S. by plaintiffs claiming they were not warned that taking an SSRI during pregnancy could lead to birth defects.

The Zoloft Birth Defect Lawsuit is MDL No. 2342 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.