A Personal Injury Lawyer’s take on: Product Liability
Sep 27, 2018
Anti-nausea medication Zofran is tied to birth defects.
Zofran is an anti-nausea drug that’s often prescribed for pregnant women suffering from morning sickness. But it now appears that taking Zofran while pregnant could seriously harm the fetus, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
According to the study of 900,000 Danish women, the risk of infant heart defects doubled when pregnant women took the drug. This is significant because an estimated 80 percent of pregnant women suffer from nausea and vomiting during preg-
nancy, and about 1 million of them have been taking Zofran (or a generic equivalent) each year.
Other women who have used the drug during pregnancy have reported babies born with cleft palates, club foot, mal- formed skulls, vision problems, and mental impairments.
GlaxoSmithKline, which manufactures Zofran, paid the government a significant fine in 2012 for illegal promotion of the drug and failing to report safety data. A number of lawsuits have now been filed by affected families as well.
