Pa. Federal Judge Transfers Paxil Birth Defect Case to Ohio

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge has transferred a Paxil birth defect case to Ohio, noting that the significant operative facts of the case occurred in Ohio and that state has a strong interest in protecting its citizens from alleged harm caused by out-of-state corporations.

In an Oct. 1 order, Judge Joel H. Slomsky further explained that defendant GlaxoSmithKline would not be able to compel the live testimony of plaintiffs' physicians at trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania because they are outside the 100-mile subpoena radius of the district.

Kathryn Kiker and her minor son, C.S., allege C.S. was …