Pfizer Awarded Summary Judgment in Zoloft MDL; More Than 300 Cases Terminated

PHILADELPHIA — Citing a lack of expert testimony, the Pennsylvania federal judge presiding over the Zoloft multidistrict litigation has granted Pfizer’s motion for summary judgment in more than 300 cases accusing it of failing to adequately warn that the drug can cause birth defects.

On April 5, Judge Cynthia Rufe of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania essentially ended the MDL by instructing the clerk to close all but 23 of the remaining cases pending against Pfizer and co-defendant Wolters Kluwer Health, a publisher of patient education material.

On Dec. 2, Judge Rufe excluded the testimony …