Trial Underway in Topamax Lawsuit Over Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate Birth Defects Trial began this week in Philadelphia for a Topamax birth defect lawsuit brought by a Virginia mother, who alleges that Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary failed to adequately warn pregnant women that side effects of the epilepsy drug may put their unborn children at risk of suffering a cleft lip or cleft palate. The case involves a product liability lawsuit filed by April Czimmer, whose six-year-old son was born with facial malformations that she blames on pregnancy side effects of Topamax. Czimmer used the medication during the first six months she was pregnant with her son to prevent epileptic seizures. Czimmer’s case is the first of dozens of Topamax lawsuits pending nationwide to reach a jury over the drug maker’s warnings provided to pregnant women. At least 63 of the complaints are currently pending in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, where the state court Topamax litigation was centralized in September 2011.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 14:52:42 +0000