Zoloft MDL Judge Excludes Testimony of Plaintiff’s General Causation Expert Nicholas Jewell

PHILADELPHIA — The judge overseeing the Zoloft (sertraline) multidistrict litigation has excluded the opinion of plaintiffs’ general causation expert Dr. Nicholas Jewell Ph.D., ruling that he failed to support his opinion that Zoloft causes cardiovascular birth defects with reliable methodology.

In a Dec. 2 order, Judge Cynthia M. Rufe of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found Dr. Jewell “has failed to consistently apply the scientific methods he articulates, has deviated from or downplayed certain well-established principles of his field, and has inconsistently applied methods and standards to the data so as to support his …