A Chicago woman born with multiple birth defects alleges that the antidepressant taken by her mother while she was pregnant with her is to blame for her birth defects.
Angela Rife has filed suit against Pfizer Inc, the maker of Zoloft. According to the Madison St. Clair Record, Rife was born in 1991 with multiple congenital birth defects, such as a cleft lip and cleft palate. Rife’s mother had been prescribed and used Zoloft during her pregnancy with Angela.
Zoloft, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant (SSRI) is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to treat major depression (MDD), social anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, premenstrual dysphonic disorder (PMDD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adults and OCD in 6 to 17 year olds. Zoloft was approved in 1991, and by 2007 there were nearly 30 million prescriptions, making it the most prescribed antidepressant in the U.S.
However, a growing body of research has tied Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants to an increased risk of birth defects when they are used in pregnancy, especially early during the first trimester, when many women are unaware that they are even pregnant.
To continue reading Zoloft Birth Defect Victim Files Lawsuit Against Pfizer, After She Was Born With Birth Defects Due To Mother Taking Popular Antidepressant
