A Virginia couple is seeking punitive and compensatory damages in a product liability lawsuit against drug manufacturers Pfizer and Wyeth over the anti-depressant Effexor, alleging that the popular drug caused their child to be born with life-threatening birth defects.

According to the Effexor Lawsuit, Plaintiffs Saundra and Brent T.’s daughter was born on Dec. 18, 2006 with a heart birth defect known as aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the heart valve. According to the Mayo Clinic, the narrowing prevents the valve from fully opening, obstructing blood flow from the heart into the aorta and the rest of the body.

“When the aortic valve is obstructed, your heart needs to work harder to pump blood to your body,” the Mayo Clinic states. “Eventually, this extra work limits the amount of blood it can pump and may weaken your heart muscle.”  People afflicted with severe aortic valve stenosis typically require surgery to replace the valve.

Under the care and counsel of her physician, Saundra took Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride) during her pregnancy. Saundra claims that had she or her doctor been adequately warned of the risks associated with the drug she would never have been prescribed it or agreed to take it, according to her Effexor lawsuit.

The Effexor Birth Defect lawsuit also alleges that Pfizer knew that Effexor caused birth defects when given to animals and the pharmaceutical giant knew since as early as 1996 that Effexor when use by pregnant women resulted in low birth weight, lower gestational age, longer hospital stays and lower Apgar scores.

What Is Effexor?

The FDA first approved Effexor for use in 1993. It is part of a class of drugs known as SNRIs, (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) which increase the concentrations of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine in the body and the brain. Effexor is used to treat major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social phobia.

Effexor side effects include nausea, headache, insomnia, drowsiness, dry mouth, constipation, sexual dysfunction, sweating and nervousness.

Popular SSRIs include Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, Celexa and Lexapro, all of which have previously been linked to an increased risk of miscarriage, birth defects, preterm birth, and pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia as well as developmental disorders later in a child’s life.

Should Pregnant Women Take Effexor?

Studies have also shown that women who take SSRIs, like Effexor, early in pregnancy have an increased risk – 27% in one study — of having a miscarriage.

“Women exposed to SSRIs during early pregnancy were at increased risk of miscarriage as were women discontinuing SSRI treatment before pregnancy, and these risks were similar,” according to a study of nearly 1.28 million pregnancies in Denmark between 1997 and 2010.

Women who stopped taking an SSRI antidepressant, like Effexor three to 12 months before pregnancy had a 24% increased risk of miscarriage, compared to women who had never taken the medication, according to the study.

Effexor Lawsuits

Currently, there are at least 68 Effexor lawsuits pending in a multidistrict litigation, which serves to avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges, increase judicial efficiency in bringing new claims and avoid delays associated with transferring cases from other districts. As of August 2013, the Effexor MDL has been established in Pennsylvania for all product liability lawsuits filed against Pfizer in U.S. District Courts nationwide.

The Effexor Lawsuit filed December 18, 2014 is Case No. 2:14-cv-07169-CMR is Case No. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.