Our California Depakote Birth Defect Lawyers Author An Article for Publication to Disseminate Information About the Scientific Evidence That Depakote Causes Birth Defects, Satisfying the Causation Element of the Lawsuit Against the Drug Manufacturers.
For those of you who have reached this page who have a child who was born with birth defects following a pregnancy during which the mother took Depakene, valporate acid, also marketed as Stravzor, and divalprox sodium, marketed as Depakote, Depakote CHP, Depakote ER, for the treatment of epilepsy, migraine headaches and bipolar disease, our Depakote birth defect lawyers recommend that you consider our more complete discussion of the science as it pertains to the Depakote lawsuits on our Our California Depakote birth defect lawyers will consider cases in which the mother took Depakote or one of the related drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy and your baby was born with birth defects. You are welcome to contact use for a free consultation. Simply fill out the Contact Form and one of our Depakote birth defect lawyers will call you to discuss your case, provide our initial case evaluation and preliminary recommendations. We are here to help you.
In our efforts to disseminate the information with regard to the association of Depakote use during the first trimester of pregnancy and resulting birth defects we have authored a short article intended to briefly discuss the scientific findings and why we believe that the crucial element of the Depakote birth defect lawsuit, to wit, "causation," can be established. On this page we reprint the lay article.
Drug Defect Lawyers Discuss Depakote Birth Defect Lawsuits
Summary: The scientific evidence that the drug Depakote results in birth defects is discussed. Our Depakote birth defect lawyers consider that the evidence is sufficient to establish the "causation" element required in lawsuits against the manufacturers.
The time of greatest expectation and happiness in our lives is when the expectant mother and her spouse look forward to the birth of a child. However, it can also be the saddest times of our lives when we learn that our baby has suffered birth anomalies, sometimes catastrophic birth defects that will have a devastating effect on the future of our newborn. In some cases the birth defect may be "spontaneous," an anomaly for which science and medicine cannot identify a cause, sometimes referred to by the medical pharmaceutical industries as "GOK," or "God only knows." Other times it is possible, by the science of epidemiology, to identify a drug taken during the first trimester of pregnancy as the cause of categories of birth defects. As our Depakote Birth Defect lawyers will discuss below, such is the case with the Depakote class of drugs.
Depakene (valporic acid) was first approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an antiepileptic drug, and then later for migraine headaches and bipolar disease, under brand names including Depakene (valporate acid) for the treatment of epilepsy, and then subsequently valporic acid, also marketed as Stravzor, and divalprox sodium, marketed as Depakote, Depakote CHP, Depakote ER for the treatment of migraine headaches and bipolar disease. The package labeling did not contain sufficient warnings of the risks of birth defects if taken during pregnancy.
As the drug experience reports and scientific studies mounted it became obvious to the scientific community and drug product liability lawyers following the science that the Depakote class of drugs was significantly teratogenic. The drugs, when taken during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy were found to result in neural tube birth defects, defects of the brain and spinal cord, such as spina bifida, as well as other major birth defects, such as craniofacial defects, malformed face and skull, brachycephaly, cardiovascular defects, including coarctation of the aorta, atrial septal defects,hypoplastic right heart, hydronephrosis, distension and dilation of the renal pelvis, cleft palate, dysplatic ribs, undescended testes, hypospadia, hand malformations, and hepatic failure leading to the death of the infant. For neural tube defects, defects affecting the spine and brain, such as spina bifida, the scientific studies confirmed increased rates of these defects as high as 30 to 80 times higher than if Depakote was not taken during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Lawyers representing those who have suffered birth defects as the result of maternal ingestion of drugs will often find that the most difficult aspect of the drug product liability lawsuit is the plaintiff's burden to prove "causation," however, this is not the case with the Depakote litigation. At least in our Depakote lawyers estimation, where there is found by good science a 30 to 80 fold increase in the incidence of a birth defect following first trimester use of the drug, causation will be very difficult for the pharmaceutical company's lawyers to contest. For more information, consider our Depakote lawyers discussion of the legal implications of the scientific evidence. Depakote birth defect lawyers, just as pharmaceutical lawyers in generally, can frame "causation" for jurors in terms of a finding that a there is "greater than a doubling" in the incidence of the birth defect, consistent with the plaintiff's preponderance of the evidence standard, "more probable than not" that the drug caused the child to be born with the birth defect. Therefore, Depakote birth defect lawyers are confident that the pharmaceutical manufacturers can and will be held liable for the human tragedy they have caused.
All women of child bearing age who are taking the Depakote class of drugs should consult their physicians with regard to dangers, the use of effective contraception, and discontinuing Depakote drugs when considering pregnancy. Often times those epilepsy require effective antiepileptic medication, and the same also may be true for those suffering from debilitating migraine headaches and bi-polar disease, however, alternate drugs may be available to provide relief that your physician can identify as not dangerous to your baby. Our Depakote birth defect lawyers' hope is that those who have suffered birth defects will be compensated, and that responsible warnings by the manufacturers and effective counseling of women suffering epilepsy, migraine headaches and bi-polar disease by physicians properly educated on the dangers of Depakote use during pregnancy will avert future family tragedy.
Ray Henke, Depakote birth defect lawyer, is a California drug product liability lawyer involved in birth defect cases for 20 years, including cases chronicled in the legal press, and from the front page of the New York Times to the front page of the Los Angeles Times, from the Washington Post to the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. He has also testified before Congress about drug product liability litigation at the request of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
Drug Defect Lawyers Discuss Depakote Birth Defect Lawsuits
Summary: The scientific evidence that the drug Depakote results in birth defects is discussed. Our Depakote birth defect lawyers consider that the evidence is sufficient to establish the "causation" element required in lawsuits against the manufacturers.
The time of greatest expectation and happiness in our lives is when the expectant mother and her spouse look forward to the birth of a child. However, it can also be the saddest times of our lives when we learn that our baby has suffered birth anomalies, sometimes catastrophic birth defects that will have a devastating effect on the future of our newborn. In some cases the birth defect may be "spontaneous," an anomaly for which science and medicine cannot identify a cause, sometimes referred to by the medical pharmaceutical industries as "GOK," or "God only knows." Other times it is possible, by the science of epidemiology, to identify a drug taken during the first trimester of pregnancy as the cause of categories of birth defects. As our Depakote Birth Defect lawyers will discuss below, such is the case with the Depakote class of drugs.
Depakene (valporic acid) was first approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an antiepileptic drug, and then later for migraine headaches and bipolar disease, under brand names including Depakene (valporate acid) for the treatment of epilepsy, and then subsequently valporic acid, also marketed as Stravzor, and divalprox sodium, marketed as Depakote, Depakote CHP, Depakote ER for the treatment of migraine headaches and bipolar disease. The package labeling did not contain sufficient warnings of the risks of birth defects if taken during pregnancy.
As the drug experience reports and scientific studies mounted it became obvious to the scientific community and drug product liability lawyers following the science that the Depakote class of drugs was significantly teratogenic. The drugs, when taken during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy were found to result in neural tube birth defects, defects of the brain and spinal cord, such as spina bifida, as well as other major birth defects, such as craniofacial defects, malformed face and skull, brachycephaly, cardiovascular defects, including coarctation of the aorta, atrial septal defects,hypoplastic right heart, hydronephrosis, distension and dilation of the renal pelvis, cleft palate, dysplatic ribs, undescended testes, hypospadia, hand malformations, and hepatic failure leading to the death of the infant. For neural tube defects, defects affecting the spine and brain, such as spina bifida, the scientific studies confirmed increased rates of these defects as high as 30 to 80 times higher than if Depakote was not taken during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Lawyers representing those who have suffered birth defects as the result of maternal ingestion of drugs will often find that the most difficult aspect of the drug product liability lawsuit is the plaintiff's burden to prove "causation," however, this is not the case with the Depakote litigation. At least in our Depakote lawyers estimation, where there is found by good science a 30 to 80 fold increase in the incidence of a birth defect following first trimester use of the drug, causation will be very difficult for the pharmaceutical company's lawyers to contest. For more information, consider our Depakote lawyers discussion of the legal implications of the scientific evidence. Depakote birth defect lawyers, just as pharmaceutical lawyers in generally, can frame "causation" for jurors in terms of a finding that a there is "greater than a doubling" in the incidence of the birth defect, consistent with the plaintiff's preponderance of the evidence standard, "more probable than not" that the drug caused the child to be born with the birth defect. Therefore, Depakote birth defect lawyers are confident that the pharmaceutical manufacturers can and will be held liable for the human tragedy they have caused.
All women of child bearing age who are taking the Depakote class of drugs should consult their physicians with regard to dangers, the use of effective contraception, and discontinuing Depakote drugs when considering pregnancy. Often times those epilepsy require effective antiepileptic medication, and the same also may be true for those suffering from debilitating migraine headaches and bi-polar disease, however, alternate drugs may be available to provide relief that your physician can identify as not dangerous to your baby. Our Depakote birth defect lawyers' hope is that those who have suffered birth defects will be compensated, and that responsible warnings by the manufacturers and effective counseling of women suffering epilepsy, migraine headaches and bi-polar disease by physicians properly educated on the dangers of Depakote use during pregnancy will avert future family tragedy.
Ray Henke, Depakote birth defect lawyer, is a California drug product liability lawyer involved in birth defect cases for 20 years, including cases chronicled in the legal press, and from the front page of the New York Times to the front page of the Los Angeles Times, from the Washington Post to the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. He has also testified before Congress about drug product liability litigation at the request of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
*Most Recent Product Liability Jury Verdicts and Settlements:
$2.7 million dollar jury verdict in a drug product fraud case in which attorney Henke represented 5 plaintiffs in a single consolidated 4 month trial alleging a conspiracy to defraud his clients with ineffective and dangerous AIDS drugs. Mr. Henke's experts in the case included Luc Montagnier, the discoverer of HIV and head of France's National AIDS Laboratories; Michael Gotlieb, the discoverer of AIDS and co-founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, Don Francis, the head of the first CDC AIDS Task force and discoverer that AIDS was a sexually transmitted disease, John Curnutte, head of the largest AIDS vaccine project in the world, Roger Detels, Chairman of the Epidemiology Department at UCLA and chief investigator on the largest AIDS epidemiology study in the United States, and a dozen others of the most highly respected AIDS scientists and physicians in the world. Mr. Henke also testified before Congress with regard to these cases, at the invitation of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
$1.5 million dollar settlement in a pharmaceutical product liability birth injury case involving a drug which attorney Henke claimed was the probable cause of the child's birth injuries, based upon the facts that the child's mother's obstetrician provided her a sedative during early pregnancy. Mr. Henke's firm obtained possession of a list of physicians, which included the mother's obstetrician, who served as "investigators" in clinical trials involving a drug which was later determined to have been a very powerful teratogen; and the child was born with limb defects typical of the kind of birth defects which were caused by the particular teratogen. The settlement was achieved despite the fact that the medical records were unavailable 20 years after the birth and retirement of the obstetrician; and the mother did not recall the name of the sedative which was provided to her. Attorney Henke also obtained a $100,000 settlement from the physician who provided her the sedative. The applicable statutes of limitation had long passed by the time the client contacted Mr. Henke's office. Attorney Henke was able to overcome the statute of limitations, over the demurrers of both the pharmaceutical company and physician, by successfully alleging that they had intentionally concealed from the public and from the child's mother that they had distributed the drug.
*The results obtained in the cases listed were dependent upon the facts of the cases, and the results will differ in other cases based on different facts
$2.7 million dollar jury verdict in a drug product fraud case in which attorney Henke represented 5 plaintiffs in a single consolidated 4 month trial alleging a conspiracy to defraud his clients with ineffective and dangerous AIDS drugs. Mr. Henke's experts in the case included Luc Montagnier, the discoverer of HIV and head of France's National AIDS Laboratories; Michael Gotlieb, the discoverer of AIDS and co-founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, Don Francis, the head of the first CDC AIDS Task force and discoverer that AIDS was a sexually transmitted disease, John Curnutte, head of the largest AIDS vaccine project in the world, Roger Detels, Chairman of the Epidemiology Department at UCLA and chief investigator on the largest AIDS epidemiology study in the United States, and a dozen others of the most highly respected AIDS scientists and physicians in the world. Mr. Henke also testified before Congress with regard to these cases, at the invitation of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
$1.5 million dollar settlement in a pharmaceutical product liability birth injury case involving a drug which attorney Henke claimed was the probable cause of the child's birth injuries, based upon the facts that the child's mother's obstetrician provided her a sedative during early pregnancy. Mr. Henke's firm obtained possession of a list of physicians, which included the mother's obstetrician, who served as "investigators" in clinical trials involving a drug which was later determined to have been a very powerful teratogen; and the child was born with limb defects typical of the kind of birth defects which were caused by the particular teratogen. The settlement was achieved despite the fact that the medical records were unavailable 20 years after the birth and retirement of the obstetrician; and the mother did not recall the name of the sedative which was provided to her. Attorney Henke also obtained a $100,000 settlement from the physician who provided her the sedative. The applicable statutes of limitation had long passed by the time the client contacted Mr. Henke's office. Attorney Henke was able to overcome the statute of limitations, over the demurrers of both the pharmaceutical company and physician, by successfully alleging that they had intentionally concealed from the public and from the child's mother that they had distributed the drug.
*The results obtained in the cases listed were dependent upon the facts of the cases, and the results will differ in other cases based on different facts
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We are the Premier California Food Poisoning Lawyers, Ecoli HUS and Listeriosis Attorneys, also representing victims of food poisoning outbreaks nationally.
Spotlight: Our Most Recent Food Poisoning Settlement:: One of our E coli HUS Attorneys obtained one of the largest multimillion dollar settlements ever achieved in an Ecoli HUS case, obtained October 1, 2006.
Consult the Food Poisoning Lawyers page or the E. coli HUS Attorneys page for additional information about the stellar qualifications of our California food poisoning attorney Nick Allis and and food and drug lawyer Henke.
We are the Premier California Food Poisoning Lawyers, Ecoli HUS and Listeriosis Attorneys, also representing victims of food poisoning outbreaks nationally.
Spotlight: Our Most Recent Food Poisoning Settlement:: One of our E coli HUS Attorneys obtained one of the largest multimillion dollar settlements ever achieved in an Ecoli HUS case, obtained October 1, 2006.
Consult the Food Poisoning Lawyers page or the E. coli HUS Attorneys page for additional information about the stellar qualifications of our California food poisoning attorney Nick Allis and and food and drug lawyer Henke.
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