Plaintiffs’ Experts Barred from Opining on Human Causation in Zoloft Birth Defect MDL

PHILADELPHIA — The judge overseeing the Zoloft birth defect MDL has excluded the opinions of three plaintiffs’ experts as to human causation, finding they did not adequately address factors such as the strength of the association between Zoloft exposure and birth defects in human infants, the dose-response relationship, and alternative explanations for any associations between Zoloft exposure and birth defects in human babies.

However, in the Aug. 12 order, Judge Cynthia M. Rufe of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania permitted the experts’ opinions as to biological plausibility, finding they are generally reliable.

Plaintiffs in …