$15 Million Awarded to Plaintiff in Ill. Federal Depakote Birth Defect Trial

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal jury has awarded $15 million in compensatory damages to a 10-year-old boy who was born with spina bifida after his mother took the anti-seizure drug Depakote while pregnant, determining that Abbott Laboratories Inc. failed to warn the prescribing doctor of the risk of severe birth defects posed by the drug.

However, the jury, sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, declined to award punitive damages, finding the plaintiff did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that Abbott acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. The trial, presided over by Judge …