A Florida couple filed a Pristiq birth defect lawsuit against Pfizer, alleging that the antidepressant caused serious injuries to their child.

The birth defects lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Elizabeth and Eric S. Elizabeth was prescribed Pristiq during pregnancy and subsequently gave birth to a child who suffered from Pristiq birth defects.

The Pristiq birth defect lawsuit alleges that many other families suffered from similar situations, in which they took Pristiq during pregnancy and then gave birth to children with birth defects.

The Pristiq lawsuit claims that the child, J.S., has Pristiq birth defect injuries that were preventable and foreseeable, and only suffered these injuries as a direct result of the defendants’ acts or omissions.

These acts include providing inaccurate, deceptive, and inadequate information to both the medical community and the mother plaintiff in this case.

Elizabeth and Eric claim that the drug manufacturers concealed risks associated with the drug Pristiq (also known as desvenlafaxine).

The plaintiffs further claim that the defendant’s drug Pristiq is defective and dangerous to human health, and that the drug lacked proper or adequate warnings about the risks associated with its use.

Because of their role in manufacturing, testing, packaging, and marketing the product Pristiq, the defendants had a responsibility and a duty, according to the plaintiffs’ claims, to know and adequately inform the medical community and consumers about the risks associated with their Pristiq.

Pristiq is a member of a class of drugs known as “serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors,” or SNRIs. The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2008 for the treatment of major depressive disorder, and has never been approved by the FDA for use in pregnant women.

SNRI and SSRI Birth Defects

SNRI drugs and SSRI drugs both affect serotonin, and the plaintiffs claim that the defendants had access to studies which showed that SSRI drugs show higher rates of prematurity and several birth defects.

The defendants either knew or should have known prior to the plaintiff ingesting Pristiq that doing so could pose a serious risk to the child as a developing fetus. The defendants either knew or should have known that their drug crosses the placenta, potentially affecting the fetus directly.

The official FDA stance on drug warnings is that drug companies, including the defendant, are required to issue stronger warnings whenever there exists reasonable evidence of a link between a serious risk and their drug.

These regulations state specifically that the link between the potential risk and the drug need not be proven before issuing the new warnings.

According to the latest Pristiq lawsuit, had Elizabeth been adequately warned that Pristiq could cause birth defects if ingested during pregnancy, she would not have taken the drug. The birth defects and injuries suffered by the minor plaintiff have caused significant damages, and will continue to do so.

The lawsuit ultimately claims that these damages are a direct result of the mother plaintiff’s ingestion of Pristiq during her pregnancy, and that this could have been prevented had the defendants adequately informed the medical community and consumers of Pristiq’s risks rather than conceal or omit them.

If you or someone you know has been negatively affected by side effects of Pristiq, including Pristiq birth defects, you may be able to file a birthd defects lawsuit.

The Pristiq Birth Defect Lawsuit is Case No. 3:14-cv-00671-RV-EMT, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.