By Terry Baynes

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc has suffered a setback in its effort to transfer a consumer class action that claims the antidepressant Zoloft is no better than a placebo into the multidistrict litigation over birth defects allegedly caused by the drug.

The clerk of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, Jeffery Luthi, determined on Tuesday that the consumer class action filed in California federal court was "not appropriate" for inclusion in the consolidated birth defect litigation under way in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, according to an entry on the panel's docket.

The novel class action filed in California in January claims that Pfizer knew that the blockbuster antidepressant was no more effective than a sugar pill but nevertheless promoted the drug to doctors and patients. The named plaintiff, Laura Plumlee, says the drug failed to help her depression over three years of treatment. The suit is seeking refunds of the money California consumers spent on the popular drug.

Plumlee's lawsuit draws from the controversial research of Harvard Medical School psychologist Irving Kirsch, the director of the Program in Placebo Studies, who contends that the benefits from antidepressants stem largely from the placebo effect, the perception of improvement driven by a patient's expectations.

Pfizer, one of the world's largest drugmakers, says that such research has been widely criticized by experts in the mental health field. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for the treatment of depression, and the fact that doctors and their patients have chosen the drug for over 20 years confirms its safety and efficacy, the company argues.

On Feb. 22 Pfizer filed a notice with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which manages large consolidated litigation, saying it planned to file a "tag-along" action to transfer the California case into the consolidated birth defect litigation in Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

BIRTHS DEFECT CASE

In around 250 cases consolidated in Pennsylvania, mothers who took Zoloft during pregnancy claim that the drug caused their babies to be born with congenital birth defects such as holes in the heart, neural tube defects and other deformities.

By seeking to transfer the class action equating Zoloft with a placebo to the multidistrict litigation, Pfizer could be attempting to undercut allegations that Zoloft causes birth defects. Claims that Zoloft is a sugar pill could be seen to conflict with claims that the drug caused injuries.

But even before Pfizer argued its case to the multidistrict litigation panel, the clerk for the panel decided that the California class action was not suited for transfer.

Chris Coffin, a lawyer at Pendley, Baudin & Coffin, who is on the plaintiffs' steering committee in the birth defects litigation, agrees with the clerk's decision and says that the cases do not belong together.

"There are no allegations of personal injury at all in the Plumlee case. There are certainly no allegations involving birth defects," said Coffin, who is also one of the plaintiff's lawyers in the suit that equates Zoloft with a sugar pill. The fact that the clerk on his own concluded that the Plumlee case was not suited for transfer was telling, he said.

Pfizer responded in a statement that the company had requested the transfer to avoid the possibility of inconsistent rulings from different courts and to promote efficiency. The company may still press on with its efforts to transfer the Plumlee case.

"While the Clerk of the Panel made a determination that the case is not appropriate for inclusion in the (multidistrict litigation), the rules provide that a motion for transfer can be made to the Panel and Pfizer is evaluating its options," the company said.

The cases are Plumlee v. Pfizer, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 13-414; and In Re: Zoloft (Sertraline Hydrochloride) Products Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 12-2342.

For Plumlee: Michael Baum of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman; Christopher Coffin of Pendley, Baudin & Coffin.

For Pfizer: Allen Ruby and Raoul Kennedy of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

For Plumlee: Christopher Coffin.

For Pfizer: Mark Cheffo of Skadden Arps.

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