Judge Asked to Modify Zoloft Lawsuit Trial Selection in Birth Defect MDL

Plaintiff lawyers ask judge for more time in Zoloft MDL bellwether selection process due to delays caused by Pfizer.

Zoloft has been the target of massive multidistrict litigation for quite some time, with more alleged victims stepping forward each year to claim that Pfizer not only failed to warn that the popular antidepressant causes birth defects, but actually marketed the drug to pregnant women and women in childbearing years.

Recently, attorneys for victims in the Zoloft MDL asked the judge presiding over the cases to modify the selection process for the first cases that will go to trial. The motion argues that the current process — which involves selecting 25 bellwether pool cases by Jan. 25 — is unmanageable due to delays in the deposition process caused by Pfizer. Plaintiffs are asking to reduce the discovery pool to eight picks by each side, or a smaller number as deemed appropriate by the Court.

Currently, Pfizer is faced with more than 400 Zoloft lawsuits within the federal court system alone—and many others at the state level. However, with these hundreds of victims, it’s the same story time and again. These plaintiffs allege that Zoloft side effects include birth defects, but the drug giant failed to adequately warn patients, doctors and the public in general about these risks.

Preparing for Early Zoloft Lawsuit Trials

Zoloft lawsuits, which are filed in U.S. District Courts around the country, have been centralized to streamline the process before U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, who presides in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Honorable Rufe oversees the pretrial discovery process as well as a number of bellwether trials in the Zoloft MDL, which are meant to help both parties figure out how juries are most likely to respond to key evidence as well as testimony. These trial runs are a win-win situation for everyone involved, or should be, but plaintiff’s attorneys are saying that the current process could be optimized.

In 2013, Judge Rufe created the bellwether trial pool selection proceedings for the Zoloft MDL, which included a joint decision between plaintiffs and defendants in which 25 cases were chosen. These cases were subject to preliminary discovery, and it was expected that the 25 would be whittled down to six cases for a May 2014 deadline.

However, a motion was filed on Dec. 27, 2013 by the plaintiffs stating that the plan is unmanageable and requesting Judge Rufe to decrease the number of cases to make sure the deadlines are attainable and achieved. The Plaintiffs estimated that the current process would require up to 175 depositions and no less than 125 in just five short months in order to meet the current deadline, including depositions of every single physician who treated patients in 25 cases—which will quickly add up. These depositions would need to be finished by Jan. 24, 2014 which is right around the corner. Further, they argued that the deposition process has allegedly been delayed due to Pfizer’s actions.

According to the motion filed in December, “Because neither the lawyers nor their clients will generally be able to participate in depositions over the holidays, this means that between Jan. 3 and Jan. 24, approximately eleven depositions will have to be taken on each business day. This is simply unrealistic and frankly unworkable.”

Plaintiffs also state that they’ve offered numerous deposition dates to Pfizer, dating back months, but say that Pfizer didn’t make a move until Dec. 17.

Pfizer Accused of Delaying Trial Process

The trial selection process also required a certain amount of strikes per party, which let each side remove cases that were handpicked by the other side. Pfizer, however, was given extra strikes for every case where a plaintiff chose, voluntarily, to dismiss the action. Plaintiffs also allege that Pfizer has been picking cases for the discovery pool which aren’t appropriate—and that they’re doing so on purpose. The end result is that many plaintiffs volunteer to dismiss cases while Pfizer is allegedly making the most of the strikes system by willfully choosing “wrong” cases.

The motion claims that, “Clearly, Pfizer’s strategy of routinely choosing non-representative cases to include in its discovery pool has provided Pfizer with the ultimate benefit of controlling the trial selection process through striking Plaintiffs’ potential trial picks. Pfizer’s exploitation of the trial selection process defeats the purpose of bellwether selection and puts Pfizer at a distinct and unfair advantage.”

The final request to Judge Rufe is to decrease the discovery pool to just eight picks per side, or any other smaller number—as well as asking the judge to deem no strikes permitted.

The Zoloft birth defects MDL is In re: Zoloft (Sertraline Hydrochloride) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2342, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Do You Qualify for a Zoloft Lawsuit?

If you took an antidepressant such as Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft or Effexor and your child was born with one or more of the birth defects listed above, you may qualify to pursue compensation from the drug manufacturer. Your child must be under the age of 18 and had surgery to correct his or congenital defects. Learn more and obtain a free case review at the SSRI Antidepressant Birth Defect Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.