Aggressive Marketing by Pharmaceutical Company Leads to Birth Defects

Case Overview

This case involves multiple mothers who were prescribed a popular antidepressant by their respective physicians while pregnant. Neither the patients’ perinatology physicians nor the drug labels on the medication adequately warned the patients of the teratogenic nature of the drug, despite well-documented cases of the antidepressant in question causing birth defects. As a result of the mothers taking this drug, they gave birth to infants with a myriad of congenital defects, including hypospadia. It is believed that the company intentionally marketed the drugs to young woman, spending upwards of $100 million per year advertising this drug to women of childbearing potential.