With an annual net income of more than 8 billion US dollars, Pfizer is the largest pharmaceutical corporation in the world. What makes the
history of Pfizer is the teeming medical advancement and also a few controversies of defective products that end up in lawsuits. Only time can tell whether Zoloft, the major antidepressant medication of Pfizer, will appear on this list of products brought to higher court for legislations as clamors regarding the adverse effects of this drug continue to rise.
As mentioned earlier, Zoloft is an antidepressant and is being prescribed worldwide as treatment for major depression since 1992. Classified as a selective serortonin reuptake inhibitor type of drug, this has also been proven to work on Obsessive Compulsive disorder (OCD), Panic disorder, Posttraumatic Stress disorder (PTSD), Premenstrual Dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and Social Anxiety disorder . In a year, Zoloft are written over 20 million prescriptions which are given to its patients both adults and children.
However, it appears that the remedial effects that this drug does to several psychiatric conditions also brings about many side effects where life-threatening ones are not exempted. Moreover, links are now being established between this drug and the incidence of birth defects on children born on Zoloft- exposed pregnancies.
Zoloft is given the Pregnancy Category C indicating animal studies were conducted and fetal risks were observe. However, there were not enough human studies available yet. Current news have revealed a connection between Zoloft and several congenital defects like Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), anencephaly, cleft lip and palate, brain and spinal cord problems, clubbing of the foot and cardiac problems. There are mild and there are severe defects, but some are even worse that the child will last for more than a few hours after birth.
The frequent basis for people filing a suit against Pfizer Inc. is the occurrence of birth defects in their child. In addition to, some users believed that proper disclosure of the possible side effects of the drug was not done by the manufacturer of the drug. Some of the side effects that they dealt with or are still dealing with have not been acknowledged by Pfizer.
At present, investigations and hearings are still in progress. All ears are still awaiting the final statement of the US FDA. If Pfizer is found accountable to the claims, then it needs to clean up this mess.
