Risk Is Slightly Increased, but Warning Should Be Heeded

The study’s authors warned that “people who are already at an increased risk of a brain hemorrhage might need to be careful. That includes people who have had a brain bleed in the past, or are on medications that reduce blood clotting such as warfarin (Coumadin), or a combination of aspirin and clopidogrel (Plavix).” Moreover, the website, MedPageToday.com specified in its article on the study that “a separate analysis showed that concomitant use of an SSRI and an anticoagulant significantly increased the risk of brain hemorrhage compared with anticoagulant use alone.”

The article further reports that doctors and researchers not involved in the study recommend that patients suffering from depression who also take anti-coagulants, should consult with their physicians about whether or not an SSRI like Zoloft is appropriate for them to take. Patients at risk for a brain hemorrhage or stroke might be better off taking  a non-SSRI medication to treat their depression.

The Rottenstein Law Group Advocates for Those Injured by Zoloft

As Zoloft and other medications in the SSRI class continue to be assessed by researchers, evidence is mounting that the drug, while beneficial to many as a treatment for depression, can be dangerous to others, especially pregnant women, and those who might also be taking medications such as anti-coagulants.

If you were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant, took the medication as directed, and gave birth to a child with birth defects you believe resulted from taking an antidepressant, you have rights as a consumer. The Rottenstein Law Group’s lawyers have over 25 years of collective experience advocating for individuals in consumer product injury and mass tort cases. They can help obtain compensation for pain and suffering and unforeseen medical costs. If you feel you have cause to sue Pfizer, Inc., our attorneys can help. For a free consultation with an RLG attorney please fill out this brief contact form or call 1-877-471-8940.

Language Skills Might Develop Too Quickly According to Study

According to a study published on October 8, 2012 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, SSRIs, including Zoloft, can speed up a child’s ability to focus on the sights and sounds of language.

Janet Werker, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and lead author of the study, said that the faster speed is not necessarily a good thing when it comes to childhood learning processes.

Werker and her research colleagues looked at pregnant women whose depression was treated with SSRIs, depressed pregnant women who were not treated with SSRIs, and pregnant women who were not suffering from depression. They compared infants’ language development at 6 months and 10 months by measuring changes in heart rate and eye movement in response to videos of speakers. A second experiment focused on the babies’ responses to sounds, rather than language.

The data collected during the study indicated that when maternal depression was not treated with medication, the baby could have a longer period of early language development. However, the study was unable to determine if either effect on a baby’s learning process would be a long-term problem.

“In our culture we tend to think speeding things up is a good thing, but it’s not necessarily so with infant language development,” Werker commented to U.S. News’s HealthDay online news service.

Pregnant women who are contending with depression should consult their physicians in order to weigh the risks and benefits of taking a medication like Zoloft, and the effects it could have on their unborn children. This study is one of many that suggest taking an SSRI during pregnancy might prove dangerous to children.

The Rottenstein Law Group Helps Mothers and Children Injured by Zoloft

If you were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant, took the medication as directed, and gave birth to a child with birth defects you believe resulted from taking an antidepressant, you have rights as a consumer. The Rottenstein Law Group’s lawyers have over 25 years of collective experience advocating for individuals in consumer product injury and mass tort cases. They can help obtain compensation for pain and suffering and unforeseen medical costs. If you feel you have cause to sue Pfizer, Inc., our attorneys can help. For a free, private consultation with an RLG attorney please fill out this brief contact form or call 1-877-471-8940.

Judge Rufe, in a previous pretrial order, set the first status conference date for the Zoloft MDL to take place on October 17, 2012.

On September 11, 2012, Judge Rufe issued another order (Pretrial Order No. 10) that scheduled additional status conferences to take place on the following dates:

• November 19, 2012
• January 17, 2013
• February 25, 2013
• March 25, 2013

All scheduled status conferences will take place at the United States Court House in Philadelphia, PA.

The Rottenstein Law Group promises to inform readers of all pertinent information that is made public by the court in the October 17, 2012, status conference, as well as those scheduled to take place in November, and in the new year.

The Rottenstein Law Group Helps Those Injured by Zoloft

The advancing of pretrial proceedings in the Zoloft MDL does not mean that new cases cannot be added.

If you were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant, took the medication as directed, and gave birth to a child with birth defects you believe resulted from taking an antidepressant, you have rights as a consumer. The Rottenstein Law Group’s lawyers have over 25 years of collective experience advocating for individuals in consumer product injury and mass tort cases. They can help obtain compensation for pain and suffering and unforeseen medical costs. If you feel you have cause to sue Pfizer, Inc., RLG’s attorneys can help. For a free consultation with an RLG attorney please fill out this brief contact form or call 1-877-471-8940.

Exercise and Zoloft Can Help Improve Depression in Those with Heart Disease

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that of 101 heart patients with signs of depression, those who exercised for 90 minutes per week and those who started taking Zoloft both improved significantly when compared to participants who took drug-free placebo pills. Pfizer, the manufacturer of Zoloft, provided both the drug and the placebos for the study but was not otherwise involved.

According to the study, up to 40 percent of heart patients have symptoms of depression, and depression itself has been linked to a higher risk of further heart trouble.

Past studies have produced mixed results on whether antidepressants like Zoloft, or other treatments might ease depression in heart patients, but there is a growing body of research that suggests exercise might offer more relief when combined with medication.

Alan Rozanski of St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals in New York, whose commentary was published along with the study, said exercise can be thought of as another “potent tool on the shelf” to fight depression in heart patients.

“The attractiveness of exercise is that it has so many other physical benefits and it ought to be something very highly considered,” he said.

The Rottenstein Law Group Helps Those Injured by Zoloft

While Zoloft might be beneficial to those suffering from heart disease, pregnant women suffering from depression need to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of taking the drug. Only a qualified physician can help a woman decide what is best for herself, and her unborn child.

If you were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant, took the medication as directed, and gave birth to a child with birth defects you believe resulted from taking an antidepressant, you have rights as a consumer. The Rottenstein Law Group’s lawyers have over 25 years of collective experience advocating for individuals in consumer product injury and mass tort cases. They can help obtain compensation for pain and suffering and unforeseen medical costs. If you feel you have cause to sue Pfizer, Inc., our attorneys can help. For a free consultation with an RLG attorney please fill out this brief contact form or call 1-877-471-8940.

Study Links Inflammation with Depression

In a study published recently in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, researchers set out to try to identify two types of biomarkers: ones that could predict future response to antidepressants, called “predictors,” and others that are targeted by antidepressants and change over the course of treatment, called “targets.”

“The study shows that we could use a blood-based ‘test’ to personalise the treatment of depression,” said Carmine Pariante of King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, who led the study. She and her fellow researchers found that high levels of inflammation, which show up in biological markers in the blood, are part of the symptoms leading to depression, especially to particular forms of depression that do not respond well to antidepressants like Zoloft.

The researchers discovered that in human cells, information from genes is carried by “messenger” cells called RNA, or mRNA, before it becomes visible as a physical or biochemical sign. The researchers monitored the patients’ mRNA before and after they were treated with one or two antidepressants from the SSRI class.

After eight weeks of treatment, the researchers found that patients who were not getting any better were those who had significantly higher levels of three inflammation markers before treatment started.

“This is a small study, but the findings are promising,” the researchers said in a statement. “Personalised treatments for depression could help us avoid the current ‘trial and error’ way of prescribing antidepressant medication.”

The results of this study are promising for people who have not had success with common depression treatments such as Zoloft. Pregnant women, however, might be best off avoiding SSRIs altogether, given the risks the medications pose to their unborn children.

The Rottenstein Law Group Helps Those Injured by Zoloft

If you were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant, took the medication as directed, and gave birth to a child with birth defects you believe resulted from taking an antidepressant, you have rights as a consumer. The Rottenstein Law Group’s lawyers have over 25 years of collective experience advocating for individuals in consumer product injury and mass tort cases. They can help obtain compensation for pain and suffering and unforeseen medical costs. If you feel you have cause to sue Pfizer, Inc., our attorneys can help. For a free consultation with an RLG attorney please fill out this brief contact form or call 1-877-471-8940.

Zoloft Could Impair a Driver’s Ability to Control a Vehicle

Research on the links between psychotropic medication and driving accidents has previously focused on benzodiazepines, but more recent studies indicate that antidepressants in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class, to which Zoloft belongs, could impair a person’s ability to drive safely while taking medication to treat depression.

The results of the study, conducted by Hui-Ju Tsai of the National Health Research Institutes in Zhunan, Taiwan, suggests that those involved in vehicular accidents were more likely to have been taking psychotropic drugs, whether they had been taking them for one month, one week or one day.

“Our findings underscore that people taking these psychotropic drugs should pay increased attention to their driving performance in order to prevent motor vehicle accidents,” said Tsai. “Doctors and pharmacists should choose safer treatments, provide their patients with accurate information and consider advising them not to drive while taking certain psychotropic medications.”

The research strengthens the findings of previous studies that have compared the risk associated with individual psychotropic drugs. It also provides more evidence on the link between dose and driving performance, showing that higher doses are associated with a higher risk of an accident. “Our data demonstrated significant dose effects for antidepressants and benzodiazepine,” Tsai added. “This suggests that taking a higher dosage poses a greater danger to those intending to drive.”

The Rottenstein Law Group Advocates for Those Injured by Zoloft

As Zoloft and other medications in the SSRI class continue to be assessed by researchers, evidence is mounting that the drug, while beneficial to many as a treatment for depression, can be dangerous to others, especially pregnant women, and those who might also be taking medications for anxiety and insomnia.

If you were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant, took the medication as directed, and gave birth to a child with birth defects you believe resulted from taking an antidepressant, you have rights as a consumer. The Rottenstein Law Group’s lawyers have over 25 years of collective experience advocating for individuals in consumer product injury and mass tort cases. They can help obtain compensation for pain and suffering and unforeseen medical costs. If you feel you have cause to sue Pfizer, Inc., our attorneys can help. For a free consultation with an RLG attorney please fill out this brief contact form or call 1-877-471-8940.

SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in the United States, where antidepressant use has steadily expanded since the release of the first SSRI, Prozac, in the 1980s. Read more »

What Zoloft side effects should I be concerned about?

While Zoloft is relatively safe, there are a number of dangerous, even deadly, side effects that users must be aware of. Read more »

How does Zoloft interact with alcohol?

Alcohol might actually prevent Zoloft from working properly. Read more »

Why is Zoloft dangerous to pregnant women?

The FDA places Zoloft in pregnancy Category C, a classification that means a drug’s adverse effects on fetuses are not conclusive, but that doctors should prescribe the medication only if potential benefits outweigh potential risks. Read more »

Should I sue?

If you’ve suffered harm because you took Zoloft, then you have the right to seek compensation. And, usually, this means bringing a lawsuit. Read more »

Why do I need a lawyer to get compensated?

Going it alone could result in an unfair financial reward—or worse: no compensation at all for your harm. Read more »

Prolonged Inflammation Can Damage Many Parts of the Body, Including the Brain

Researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine conducted a study to help determine whether reducing and controlling inflammation in a large segment of the population that suffers from depression that is not easily treated by medications like Zoloft could be a viable alternative for those who are unresponsive to SSRIs. The researchers used the relatively new drug, infliximab, a biological drug originally intended to treat conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, that cause severe inflammation in those who suffer from them.

Biological drugs mimic the way that substances made by the body’s immune system work. Infliximab works by blocking tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which is involved in inflammation and has been found to be higher in certain depressed patients.

The people involved in the study all suffered from severe depression and did not benefit from common treatment options. They were given either a placebo or the infliximab.

At first, the researchers did not see a large difference in the improvement of symptoms in the participants who were given the placebo and the ones who were given the infliximab. After further investigation of the people with high inflammation individually, however, the authors noticed that they benefited much more from the infliximab than the placebo.

Andrew H. Miller, MD, a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory, and senior author of the study, commented, “Inflammation is the body’s natural response to infection or wounding. However, when prolonged or excessive, inflammation can damage many parts of the body, including the brain.”

Previous studies have claimed that individuals with depression who have severe inflammation are not as likely to benefit from common treatments such as antidepressants and psychotherapy, which tend to help other depressed patients.

The Rottenstein Law Group Helps Those Injured by Dangerous Drugs and Medical Devices

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed to patients dealing with depression as the most effective way to deal with the condition. When an unborn child’s life is in question, it is always best to speak to a qualified physician to determine whether or not a drug like Zoloft is the best treatment for depression symptoms during pregnancy.

If you were prescribed Zoloft while pregnant, took the medication as directed, and gave birth to a child with birth defects you believe resulted from taking an antidepressant, you have rights as a consumer. The Rottenstein Law Group’s lawyers have over 25 years of collective experience advocating for individuals in consumer product injury and mass tort cases. They can help obtain compensation for pain and suffering and unforeseen medical costs. If you feel you have cause to sue Pfizer, Inc., our attorneys can help. For a free consultation with an RLG attorney please fill out this brief contact form or call 1-877-471-8940.