Although an Ohio federal judge decided to trim a plaintiff’s Depakote birth defects lawsuit, the lawsuit was ultimately preserved and continues to target Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc. for allegedly causing her daughter’s birth defects.

Plaintiff Pamela R. claims she took Depakote to treat her epileptic seizures starting at the age of fourteen. She continued to used Depakote, as well as another drug called Phenobarbital, throughout her pregnancies with five children.

Her last child, born in 2004, was allegedly born with Depakote birth defects which included abnormal facial features, cognitive impairment, and developmental delays.

The birth defect lawsuit states that it was the ingestion of Depakote during pregnancy that led to her daughter’s birth defects and claims that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn about birth defects as a potential side effect of their product.

Plaintiff Pamela originally filed the Depakote birth defect lawsuit with claims of design defect, negligent representation, fraud, and unjust enrichment claims, but U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott tossed these claims out. The claims remaining in the birth defect lawsuit are breach of warranty and failure to warn.

While the companies involved in the Depakote birth defects lawsuit argued that the labels were adequate according to legal regulations, the judge found that Rheinfrank’s failure to warn claim should still stand.

According to the judge, the plaintiff adequately showed that the issue of label adequacy involves questions of fact, and should be considered more fully.

The defendants attempted to have Pamela’s other claims thrown, including breach of express and implied warranty, alleging that these and other claims “rise and fall” with the plaintiff’s failure to warn claims. However according to Judge Dlott, the defendants “offered no case law under which the court could conclude that it is proper to analyze all of these claims together,” meaning that the claims will remain separate.

The judge recognized that the Depakote birth defects lawsuit has strong evidence concerning Abbott’s failure to warn about the magnitude of the risk of birth defects from Depakote.

Depakote Birth Defects Lawsuits

Depakote is an anti-seizure drug manufactured by Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc. Depakote birth defects lawsuits allege that the drug when taken during the first semester of pregnancy, can cause serious birth defects. These Depakote birth defects include, but are not limited to, limb deformities and heart defects.

Many Depakote birth defects lawsuits reference recent studies that allegedly link Depakote to a higher risk of birth defects than other anti-seizure drugs on the market.

AbbVie and Abbott received approval to market and distribute Depakote for the treatment of certain forms of epilepsy in 1978. The Depakote birth defects lawsuit claims that the companies have been aware of the risk of birth defects associated with their drug since before they began marketing and distributing the drug.

If you took Depakote and later had a child born with a birth defect, contact a birth defects attorney to find out if you may have legal claim.

The Depakote Birth Defects Lawsuit is Pamela R. et al. v. Abbott Laboratories Inc., et al., Case No. 1:13-cv-00144, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.