04/14/2014
76 Children who experienced birth defects after their mothers took Topamax during pregnancy settled lawsuits with the Johnson & Johnson and Janssen pharmaceutical companies last week.
These cases settled after several trials and jury verdicts in favor of the children and their families. Last month a jury awarded $3 Million in favor of a five year old whose lawyers claimed that Janssen did not update the Topamax label to reflect data showing that the drug resulted in an increased incidence of cleft lips and cleft palates in newborns when their mothers took Topamax during the first trimester of their pregnancies. A jury returned a $4 Million verdict against the company in a similar suit in October, 2013 and another family won a $10 Million verdict in December, 2013 against the makers of Topamax.
Topamax is an ant-epilepsy and migraine medication manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen subsidiary.
In 2010, the United States Department of Justice reported that Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC and Ortho-McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay more than $81 Million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of Topamax. The government alleged that the company promoted the sale of Topamax for off-label (unapproved) use through a practice known as the "Doctor-for-a-Day" program. Using this program, the company "hired outside doctors to join sales representatives on their visits to healthcare providers and to speak at meetings and dinners about prescribing Topamax for unapproved uses and doses."
Most pregnancies are unplanned and many women stop taking elective medications when they find out they are pregnant. Unfortunately by the time the moms stop taking the medications, babies may be exposed for weeks to medications that can cross the placenta barrier. During the first weeks of pregnancy critical fetal development can be affected by toxins that cross the placenta.
Often prior to pregnancy women are not aware of a medication's ability to cross the placenta, nor are they aware of adverse events reported to pharmaceutical companies bout birth defects that have occurred in children whose mothers took certain medications during pregnancy. Most mothers that we represent report that they would not have taken the medications at all or during a time period when they could become pregnant if they had known of the risk of birth defects.
Seithel Law, LLC represents children with birth defects whose mothers took Topamax, Depakote, Paxil, Zoloft or Effexor during the first trimester of pregnancy. We are currently accepting new cases. If you or a loved one you know has a child with birth defects and anti-depressants or Topamax could have been used in the first trimester of pregnancy, please contact Lynn Seithel directly at 843-557-1699 or 800-818-5329. Common birth defects our clients suffer from include but are not limited to: Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate, Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Ventricular Septal Defect, (VSD), Transposition of the Greater Arteries (TGA), Tetralogy of Fallot, Spina Bifida, cranial defects and clubbed feet.
