Boston, MAA Lexapro lawsuit arguing Forest Pharmaceuticals misled patients about the risk of Lexapro side effects and Celexa side effects has been granted class-action status. The lawsuit alleges that Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc, maker of Lexapro and Celexa, covered up findings suggesting the antidepressants were not effective in children. Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been filed against Forest Pharmaceuticals alleging Lexapro caused fatal birth defects in a baby who died two weeks after her birth.
According to Law360 (1/13/14), the class-action decision was handed down by a Massachusetts federal judge in the lawsuit filed by Missouri parents (case number 1:09-md-02067, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts) even though similar allegations made in lawsuits in New York and Illinois were rejected. The judge determined, however, the plaintiffs’ allegations - that they were misled into giving their children Lexapro and Celexa even though the drugs were not approved for use in children - could go ahead under Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act.
All three sets of lawsuits - from Missouri, New York and Illinois - have been consolidated for multidistrict litigation in Massachusetts federal court. The lawsuits all allege Forest Pharmaceuticals marketed the drugs as safe for children even though they were not approved for pediatric use.
Although it is not illegal for drugs to be prescribed off-label - for uses they are not approved for - it is illegal for drug companies to market medications for off-label uses. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that by not giving parents full information about Lexapro and Celexa - specifically that a clinical trial found the drugs to be no more effective than a placebo in children - Forest Pharmaceuticals denied parents the opportunity to make an informed decision.
While that lawsuit works its way through the system, a lawsuit alleging a baby died of birth defects caused by Lexapro has been filed against Forest Pharmaceuticals. The lawsuit (case number 14-cv-00114 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey) was filed by Chandra Shuck and claims her daughter, M.M.S., died two weeks after she was born due to birth defects caused by Lexapro, which the baby’s mother took while pregnant.
According to the lawsuit, baby M.M.S. was diagnosed at birth with life-threatening heart defects, including “an atrial septal defect, a ventricular septal defect, a patent ductus arteriosus, a patent foramen ovale, a coarctation of the aorta, a right ventricular outflow tract obstruction defects, a left ventricular outflow tract obstruction defects and pulmonary hypertension.”
In all, baby M.M.S. had four open-heart surgeries to treat her conditions in her two weeks of life.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants knew about the risk of cardiac and other birth defects in infants who were exposed to the medications prior to birth, but still marketed the drug for use in pregnant women. Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that because the defendants continued to misrepresent the risks associated with Lexapro, it took the plaintiff longer to discover that Lexapro may have caused her daughter’s serious heart condition.
Among the claims against Forest Pharmaceuticals are wrongful death, defective design and failure to warn.
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