$15 Million Depakote Birth Defect Verdict Upheld

Abbott Laboratories Inc. lost an attempt to overturn a $15 million verdict for a California boy who alleged his mother’s use of Depakote during pregnancy caused his deformed spine (E.R.G. v. Abbott Labs., Inc., 2017 BL 250287, S.D. Ill., No. 12-55, 7/19/17).

Evidence supported the jury’s findings that spina bifida warnings were inadequate, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois said July 19.

The jury’s finding that a stronger warning would have kept the mother’s doctor from prescribing mood stabilizer Depakote was also reasonable, the court said.

Nor did the amount of the award “shock ...