A couple in Alameda County, California has filed a lawsuit against massive pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Katherine and Matthew Murray accuse the company of not properly warning consumers of the side effects caused by ondansetron, more commonly known as Zofran.
GSK marketed Zofran to pregnant women to help combat morning sickness. The drug is an anti-nausea pill used to help only severe cases. It was approved by the FDA to treat nausea caused by chemotherapy and surgery. It was not authorized for usage by pregnant women. GSK has faced many lawsuits that claim children suffered birth defects such as cleft palates, due to the medicine.
The Murrays cite Zofran as the cause of their daughter’s medical issues. Their daughter was born in 2007 and suffered severe congenital heart malformations and had to go through surgery at the age of four. The couple believe that their daughter would not have had to suffer this condition if not for Zofran. They are seeking restitution for their daughter’s pain and lifelong condition, and also hope to bring awareness about how dangerous the drug is for pregnant women.
The FDA did issue a warning in 2014, in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, however that was well after the Murray’s daughter was born.
The Murray’s attorney states
Despite having received hundreds of reports of birth defects associated with Zofran and continuing strong sales to pregnant women, GSK has not performed any clinical studies on the safety or efficacy of Zofran for treating morning sickness. Moreover, GSK has not updated Zofran’s labeling to warn mothers and physicians that epidemiology studies report an increased risk of birth defects in infants exposed to Zofran during pregnancy. Recent studies report that a mother exposed to Zofran had more than a doubled risk of having a baby with a congenital heart defect as compared to a mother who did not ingest Zofran during pregnancy.
This is not the first suit filed against GSK. There have been so many others, that GSK requested multi-district litigation. DominaLaw Group is investigating birth defect claims against GSK. If you took Zofran while pregnant and your child was adversely affected, contact our birth injury lawyers today for a case review. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, we handle serious injury cases throughout the state as well as Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota, Kansas, and beyond.