The parents of a minor child have filed a lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline alleging that the drug manufacturer’s anti-nausea medication Zofran caused birth defects in their child, C.J..

Plaintiffs Ashley D. and Charles J. claim that “As a direct and proximate result of his exposure in utero to Zofran, C.J. has experienced a delay in his physical, language and psychological development and interference with speaking and dental development.”

C.J. was born with a cleft palate and cleft lip that required multiple surgeries and ongoing speech therapy. C.J. continues to exhibit motor and speech delays at nine years of age.

C.J.’s parents claim there is no known genetic cause for their son’s difficulties and there is no immediate family history of such difficulties.

Ashley stated that she took the anti-nausea medication Zofran during her pregnancy at the advice of her doctor to help with the morning sickness she was experiencing.

Ashley took the anti-nausea medication, believing it to be sage, she claims.

“Had Ashley known the truth about Zofran’s unreasonable risk of harm, long concealed by GSK, she would have never taken Zofran, and her child would not have been injured as described herein,” the lawsuit states.

Zofran is a prescription anti-nausea medication that was intended to prevent nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy and radiation, and to be used post-operatively.

The anti-nausea medication was never approved to be used as a treatment for morning sickness, as it was never adequately tested for such a use, according to the lawsuit.

In fact, the lawsuit claims that GlaxoSmithKline was aware of the potential Zofran birth defects possibilities based on the results of some early studies of the drug on other mammals.

Ashley and Charles allege that GSK purposefully hid the results of its studies and continued to promote Zofran as being a safe anti-nausea medication for the treatment of morning sickness in pregnant women.

The lawsuit claims that a number of Zofran birth defects have been reported including:

• Congenital heart disease
• Dysmorphism
• Intrauterine death
• Stillbirth
• Kidney malformation
• Congenital diaphragmatic anomaly
• Congenital musculoskeletal abnormalities
• Orofacial anomalies
• Death

The plaintiffs have brought forth numerous allegations against GlaxoSmithKline including violation of Indiana’s Product Liability Act, fraud, violation of Indiana’s Consumer Sales Act and punitive damages.

Ashley and Charles are seeking damages for medical expenses, refund of cost of Zofran, along with punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs and other relief deemed appropriate by the Court.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has recently formed an MDL for cases similar to this case filed by Ashley and Charles. The couple does not oppose the transfer of the lawsuit to be included with the MDL pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Filing a Zofran Birth Defects Lawsuit

If you took Zofran anti-nausea medication to treat morning sickness during your pregnancy and your baby was born with probable Zofran birth defects including cleft lip, cleft palate, heart abnormalities or other birth defects, you may be eligible to take legal action.

An experienced Zofran attorney can offer you a no-cost and no-obligation case review to help you understand your legal options.

The Zofran Birth Defects Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-10825-FDS in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.