Consolidation likely in Zofran litigation

PHOENIX - July 13, 2015 - PRLog -- July 6, 2015, drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline filed a motion with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation requesting consolidation of all Zofran birth defect lawsuits before a single judge in Pennsylvania. GlaxoSmithKline's headquarters is located in Pennsylvania and according to the pharmaceutical company, the motion to consolidate litigation to their home state, if granted, will allow for more efficient pretrial discovery.

Many speculate the motion to consolidate will be accepted. According to Robert Arentz, founding attorney of the Arentz Law Group, a national law firm actively investigating Zofran Birth defect cases: "Consolidation [of Zofran cases] benefits all parties to the litigation as well as the court system. When the court expects details of many cases to be nearly identical, consolidation is often more practical than litigating each case on an individual basis."

To date, Zofran lawsuits have been filed in Arkansas, Ohio, Louisiana, Massachussetts, Texas, Montana, California, and Minnesota. Approximately twelve Zofran cases have been filed against GlaxoSmithKline by women who claim taking Zofran, prescribed to treat morning sickness during the first trimester of pregnancy, caused their children to develop birth defects. Birth Defects associated with Zofran include; Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate, Atrial Septal Defect (hole in the heart) and Ventricular Septal Defect (hole in the heart).