Mo. Federal Judge Remands Paxil Birth Defect Case, Finds Non-Diverse Plaintiff Properly Joined

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri federal judge has remanded a Paxil birth defect case to state court, finding the nondiverse defendant was neither fraudulently joined nor fraudulently misjoined because her claim has a reasonable basis in fact and law and has a palpable connection to the diverse plaintiffs’ claims.

On Aug. 13, Judge Stephen M. Limbaugh Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri remanded the case to the St. Louis County Circuit Court.

Plaintiffs sued GlaxoSmithKline in the Circuit Court on behalf of themselves and their minor children, alleging their ingestion of Paxil while pregnant …