Hundreds of plaintiffs with birth defect lawsuits have gained approval from a federal judge to show an expert witness, who will testify on general causation. All the plaintiffs’ lawsuits have been bound in a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL), as all the lawsuits claim that Zoloft caused their child’s birth defect.
What is Multidistrict Litigation?
Multidistrict litigation is designed to speed up the judicial process in civil cases that have one or more similar questions of fact. It is called “multidistrict” since these cases can originate in different judicial districts. These similar cases are then sent to one court to settle or dismiss the cases in pre-trial.
When the cases are not settled or dismissed, they will be sent back to the individual courts that transferred the case for the MDL. Each court in the separate lawsuits’ original districts will then proceed with the trial and the awarding of any damages on an individual basis.
In the Zoloft case above, the plaintiffs are arguing that Pfizer had promoted Zoloft as an anti-depressant that was safe to use during pregnancy. However, researchers have noticed increased risks for persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), as well as for heart defects, seizures, autism and skull or brain development in children born to women who took this medication while pregnant.
Each of the plaintiffs is claiming that their child was born with one or more of these defects. Rather than handling all of these hundreds of similar cases separately, the justice system has deemed it proper to try to settle or dismiss the cases all at once.
In MDL cases, you can join a litigation already in process. Joining a larger pharmaceutical litigation group could strengthen your case, because the large number of similar complaints can show that there really is a problem that needs to be addressed.
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Farrell & Patel – Birth Injury Lawyers
Source: http://injurylawyer-news.com/2015/01/new-expert-appear-zoloft-birth-defect-lawsuits/
