Zofran Defective Drug Lawsuits: What to do if You’ve Been Harmed by the Medication

If you follow news about defective drugs, you may have heard about a pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline heading back to court over a prescription known as Zofran.

By way of background information, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Zofran to help treat cancer patients suffering from nausea following chemotherapy treatments and/or surgery – helping those folks stave off vomiting.

But soon enough, the drug maker found another demographic for the prescription drug: Pregnant women suffering from morning sickness.

The issue? Zofran had never been approved by the FDA as a treatment for pregnant women with morning sickness. And GlaxoSmithKline got into a fair amount of trouble over it. And, in 2012, the drug maker pleaded guilty to federal charges.

GlaxoSmithKline at the time agreed to pay $1 billion to settle its federal case, which included a criminal fine of more than $956,800. Additionally, the pharmaceutical company also agreed to pay an additional $2 billion to resolve its civil liabilities with the federal government related to the False Claims Act, as well as to the states.

But new allegations have arisen that will have GlaxoSmithKline in the confines of a courtroom once again.

According to news reports on the matter, at least 34 Zofran lawsuits have been filed in various federal courts, including the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. A mother in Cleveland filed that suit, claiming that she took Zofran when pregnant with her son, and that the drug caused her unborn child to develop a large atrial septal defect.

In short: The myriad lawsuits accuse GlaxoSmithKline of marketing Zofran to pregnant mothers, and as well as compensating doctors to prescribe it to them to stave off morning sickness – resulting in millions of dollars in profit from the drug.

But do you have a defective drug claim?

When it comes to defective drug cases like these, a quality lawyer whose practice focuses on defective drugs can help a person answer a few questions related to legal liability, which would affect a potential claim.

They include:

• Did the drug manufacturer in question (in this case GlaxoSmithKline) fail to warn the public about dangerous side effects?
• Did GlaxoSmithKline advertised the drug as a safe treatment for morning sickness and despite not being approved for that specific use?
• Did GlaxoSmithKline falsely – and fraudulently – claim Zofran was safe for pregnant women?

When products manufacturers such as GlaxoSmithKline fail to take precautions such as the ones above, dangerous products such as Zofran enter the marketplace and put lives at risk. Drug manufacturers are legally responsible for ensuring their products are not only properly designed, but also adequately tested and safe for use.

The defective drug lawyers at Pribanic & Pribanic have handled major and catastrophic cases at both the national and local level – taking on teams of attorneys from some of the largest firms representing some of the largest drug manufacturers in the country.

Just recently, two attorneys from Pribanic & Pribanic opposed 44 attorneys representing the defendant – and obtained a successful, confidential settlement for their clients.

The bottom line? Although proving defective drugs cases can be a challenge, the lawyers at Pribanic & Pribanic use all the tools at their disposal to help get their clients a successful outcome. Expert witnesses, diagrams, models and computer re-enactments are all used in defective drug cases in Pittsburgh, throughout western Pennsylvania and beyond.

If you or someone you love were seriously injured or died  as a result of a dangerous drug defect, call the Pittsburgh personal injury attorneys at Pribanic & Pribanic today to schedule a free initial consultation at 412-672-5444 or toll free at 800-392-4529.