GSK Zofran Suits Should be Revived, Groups Tell Appeals Court

GlaxoSmithKline LLC should face hundreds of families’ birth defect suits that were wrongly dismissed as preempted by federal law, two consumer-oriented public interest groups told the First Circuit in an amicus brief.

Zofran was approved to treat nausea associated with chemotherapy. The families allege the drug was illegally promoted to treat pregnancy-related sickness. They allege Zofran caused heart defects and other problems in their children and that GSK didn’t adequately warn about its use during pregnancy.

Their suits were thrown out in June, when the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said impossibility preemption bars the claims because ...