When the rot set in at GlaxoSmithKline

Below is a list of links that will take you to stories that show how over the years GlaxoSmithKline have had to defend their corner. Each link should bring you to the archive section of the New York Times.

I have provided the dates and a brief synopsis under each link. It's a long post but GlaxoSmithKline seem to have a long history of trying to defend their corner.... until eventually settling out of court and admitting no liability.

The out of court settlements involving Paxil have been left out, mainly because of the reporting restrictions (gagging orders) GlaxoSmithKline placed as part of the settlements.

We shall start with 1991

Ad for Drug Is Challenged - Published: February 26, 1991
Genentech Inc. filed a lawsuit today in United States District Court here accusing SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. of false advertising.


SMITHKLINE AND ROHM & HAAS TO CLEAN UP TOXIC SITE - Published: September 18, 1992
The Rohm & Haas Company and SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. have agreed to spend about $125 million to clean up the former Whitmoyer Laboratories site in Myerstown, Pa., the Justice Department said. Whitmoyer Laboratories manufactured veterinary pharmaceuticals from 1934 to 1984. During that time, toxic materials -- aniline and soluble arsenic compounds -- were produced, stored and disposed at the site. The Whitmoyer installation is one of the Environmental Protection Agency's so-called Superfund cleanup sites.


Glaxo-F.D.A. Dispute - Published: March 8, 1993
The United States Food and Drug Administration has accused Glaxo Holdings P.L.C. of illegally promoting its top-selling ulcer drug Zantac, The Sunday Times of London reported today. The article said the F.D.A. sent a letter to Glaxo in January warning that its advertising for Zantac had "statements, suggestions or implications that are false and/or misleading."


F.D.A. PANELS REJECT SMITHKLINE DRUG REQUEST - Published: September 10, 1993
Two advisory committees to the Food and Drug Administration yesterday turned down a request by SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. to recommend F.D.A. approval of its prescription heartburn drug Tagamet for over-the-counter sale. The panels said the company's tests did not show Tagamet was superior to placebos.


Seven Big Drug Makers Are Sued Over Pricing - Published: October 15, 1993
Struggling with growing competition from cheaper mail-order pharmacies and health maintenance organizations, 20 drugstore companies filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing large drug makers of price fixing and Federal antitrust violations. The other defendants are the American Home Products Corporation, SmithKline Beecham, the Ciba-Geigy Corporation, the Searle unit of the Monsanto Corporation and Glaxo Holdings P.L.C.


SmithKline Ulcer Drug Challenged - Published: July 29, 1994
SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. was dealt a second setback today in its regulatory quest to turn its prescription ulcer drug Tagamet into an over-the-counter treatment for heartburn.


Glaxo to Alter Drug Label - Published: August 17, 1994
The Food and Drug Administration has ordered Glaxo Holdings P.L.C. to change the labels of its anti-migraine drug Imitrex to include information about the death of an American woman who used the drug, Glaxo said today.


F.T.C. TO REVIEW SMITHKLINE'S DIVERSIFIED PURCHASE - Published: November 15, 1994
A week after restricting a major drug industry merger, the Federal Trade Commission is examining another -- the purchase by SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. of Diversified Pharmaceutical Services Inc


Drug Makers Settle Suit on Price Fixing - Published: February 10, 1996
Fifteen big drug companies formally agreed yesterday to pay more than $408 million to settle a class action lawsuit charging them with conspiring to illegally fix prices that they charged to thousands of independent pharmacies. In the settlement, which is subject to approval by a Federal district judge in Chicago, the 15 companies agreed to pay more than $388 million in cash. One of the defendants, SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. of London, agreed to supply the plaintiffs with a generic version of cimetidine, SmithKline's Tagamet brand ulcer treatment, valued at $20 million, as well as $30 million in cash.


SmithKline Beecham in Settlement With U.S. - Published: September 7, 1996
In the latest big settlement by a clinical laboratory company of Federal Medicare fraud charges, SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. expects to pay the Government about $300 million this year, without admitting any wrongdoing. Analysts said the Laboratory Corporation of America also expects to settle similar charges by the end of the year.


Merck Files Suit Over Vaccine Distribution - Published: December 25, 1996
Merck & Company, saying it has exclusive rights to distribute a chicken pox vaccine in the United States and Canada, has sued four affiliates of SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. in an effort to block them from distributing their vaccine in the United States.


37 Health Insurers Suing SmithKline - Published: August 25, 1997
SmithKline Beecham P.L.C. has been sued by 37 private health insurers contending that the company's clinical laboratory division overbilled them by hundreds of millions of dollars.


Concerns Grow Over Reactions To Lyme Shots - Published: November 21, 2000
Federal health authorities are investigating whether some people who received the vaccine against Lyme disease later developed severe cases of arthritis and even Lyme disease itself as a result. The Food and Drug Administration has received reports of such problems, mainly from doctors and researchers in the Northeast. The vaccine, made by SmithKline Beecham Biologicals, a subsidiary of the British pharmaceutical giant SmithKline Beecham, was approved by the drug agency two years ago, and about 440,000 Americans have received it. SmithKline Beecham defends it as safe.


U.S. Looking at SmithKline Effort to Block Generic Drug - Published: December 7, 2000
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether SmithKline Beecham, the British drug company, has engaged in illegal trade practices by keeping competitors from selling generic, lower-cost versions of Paxil, its popular antidepressant, according to court papers.


5 Drug Makers Use Material With Possible Mad Cow Link - Published: February 8, 2001
For the last eight years, the Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly asked pharmaceutical companies not to use materials from cattle raised in countries where there is a risk of mad cow disease. All five vaccine makers, which include GlaxoSmithKline, Aventis and American Home Products, have now agreed to stop using the suspect materials, which include blood, fetal calf serum and meat broth.


DRUG MAKERS DROP SOUTH AFRICA SUIT OVER AIDS MEDICINE - Published: April 20, 2001
Bowing to mounting public pressure, the pharmaceutical industry today dropped its legal effort to prevent South Africa from importing cheaper anti-AIDS drugs and other medicines. The companies that began the negotiations that led to today's settlement were Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck, both of the United States, GlaxoSmithKline of Britain, Hoffmann-La Roche of Switzerland and Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany.


Genentech Wins GlaxoSmithKline Dispute - Published: May 5, 2001
Genentech Inc. said yesterday that it had defeated a patent infringement suit brought by GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. over two oncology drugs.


Jury Awards $6.4 Million In Killings Tied to Drug - Published: June 8, 2001
A Wyoming jury has awarded $6.4 million to the family of a man who killed three relatives and himself after taking the antidepressant Paxil. Charles F. Preuss, a lawyer for the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline said the verdict on Wednesday was a surprise.


Glaxo Is Sued Over Antidepressant - Published: August 27, 2001
A lawsuit accuses Glaxo SmithKline, the maker of the popular antidepressant Paxil, of concealing evidence that the drug can be addictive.


IN STUDY, LILLY CALLS ITS ANTIDEPRESSANT MORE EFFECTIVE - Published: November 20, 2001
Eli Lilly has released clinical data showing that its experimental antidepressant, duloxetine, was more effective in reducing symptoms of depression than GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil.


Rockies: Montana: Suit Against Drug Companies - Published: February 26, 2002
The state attorney general sued 18 drug makers and marketers, accusing them of illegally inflating prices and costing the state and consumers tens of millions of dollars. The scheme hurt taxpayers because they finance the Medicaid and Medicare programs that were forced to pay the exaggerated drug prices, Attorney General Mike McGrath, left, said. The lawsuit names Abbott Laboratories; American Home Products; Amgen; AstraZeneca; Aventis Pharma and Hoechst Marion Roussel, both owned by Aventis; Baxter Pharmaceutical Products; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Eli Lilly; Chiron; Dey; GlaxoSmithKline and SmithKline Beecham, which have merged


Sole Lyme Vaccine Is Pulled Off Market - Published: February 28, 2002
With tick season approaching, the maker of the nation's only vaccine against Lyme disease pulled it off the market, citing poor sales. The vaccine, Lymerix, had caused controversy in recent years, as patients said they were sickened by it and asked the government to restrict sales. Some filed lawsuits against the maker, GlaxoSmithKline.


RULING FAVORS GENERIC ANTIDEPRESSANT FROM ANDRX - Published: March 2, 2002
The Andrx Group said a judge ruled that its generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Wellbutrin antidepressant did not infringe a Glaxo patent


JUDGE ALLOWS A GENERIC VERSION OF GLAXO ANTIBIOTIC - Published: March 14, 2002
The British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline said yesterday that a judge had ruled in favor of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel in Teva's bid to market a generic version of Glaxo's antibiotic Augmentin in America.


Warnings Added To Diabetes Drugs - Published: April 27, 2002
GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly & Company have added warnings about heart and liver risks to the labels of their diabetes drugs, which are similar to a medication that was withdrawn from the market in 2000 because of links to fatal liver damage.


Judge Orders Drug Company To Alter Ads - Published: August 21, 2002
Federal Judge Mariana R Pfzelzer orders GlaxoSmithKline to stop saying in its advertisements for Paxil, top-selling antidepressant, that drug is 'nonhabit-forming'


Asthma Drug Health Risks Are Suspected - Published: January 24, 2003
GlaxoSmithKline said yesterday that Serevent, one of its popular asthma drugs, might pose a risk of death and serious asthma-related illness in some patients.


New York Will Sue 2 Big Drug Makers On Doctor Discount - Published: February 13, 2003
New York plans to sue two major pharmaceutical companies today, accusing them essentially of paying doctors and pharmacists to choose the companies' drugs over competing medicines. The lawsuits contend that GlaxoSmithKline and Pharmacia, the two large drug companies, gave discounts to doctors and pharmacies that bought their drugs.


GLAXO SAYS IT WILL FIGHT NEW YORK LAWSUIT - Published: February 14, 2003
The chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, one of two drug makers accused by the New York attorney general of inflating drug costs for government health programs and consumers, said yesterday that it would fight the accusations.


Glaxo Loses Ruling in Patent Trial for Depression Drug - Published: March 5, 2003
GlaxoSmithKline said yesterday that it had lost a critical patent trial over its top-selling drug, significantly raising the risk that it would face generic competition for the medicine earlier than the company expected.


Connecticut Says It Is Suing Seven Drug Makers - Published: March 14, 2003
Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, said today that he was suing seven pharmaceutical manufacturers, asserting that the companies inflated drug costs. Mr. Blumenthal accused the companies -- Aventis, Dey, GlaxoSmithKline, Pharmacia, Roxane Laboratories, Schering-Plough and Warrick Pharmaceuticals -- of inflating the average wholesale prices they charged the state and consumers.


Glaxo Shareholders Revolt Against Pay Plan for Chief - Published: May 20, 2003
GlaxoSmithKline shareholders vote to reject proposed pay package for chief executive Dr Jean-Pierre Garnier and other top executives


Britain Says Use of Paxil By Children Is Dangerous - Published: June 11, 2003
British drug regulators warned yesterday that GlaxoSmithKline's popular antidepressant Paxil causes depressed children to become more suicidal and should not be prescribed for them.


U.S. Issues Warning on Child Use of Paxil - Published: June 20, 2003
No one under age 18 should be prescribed the drug Paxil for major depression because it might increase the risk of suicide, the government said today. The drug agency had asked makers of adult antidepressants for research on how their drugs affect children. Three studies of Paxil found it did not seem to help pediatric depression, but agency scientists spotted some safety concerns and ordered the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, to re-analyze the data.


What You Do Know Can't Hurt You - Published: August 12, 2003
A recent report that one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants, Paxil, might be linked to an increased risk of suicidal thinking in teenagers and children has sent a wave of anxiety through doctors and depressed patients alike. What is disturbing about the recent report is that the purported link between Paxil and suicidal thinking comes from an unpublished study sponsored by the Paxil's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline. In fact, GlaxoSmithKline has published only one of its nine studies of Paxil in children and adolescents to date.


F.D.A. PANEL REJECTS GLAXO LUNG DISEASE DRUG - Published: September 6, 2003
GlaxoSmithKline failed to win backing from a federal panel yesterday for its Ariflo emphysema pill. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted 7 to 3 to recommend that Ariflo not be approved to treat diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis that are most often linked to years of smoking.


RULING FAVORS IDEC IN PATENT DISPUTE WITH 2 RIVALS - Published: October 17, 2003
Idec Pharmaceuticals said yesterday that a federal judge in California had ruled in its favor in a two-year patent dispute with two drug makers, Corixa and GlaxoSmithKline, over Idec's cancer drug Zevalin.


Some in Congress Seek Inquiry Over Drug Supply to Canada - Published: November 1, 2003
Twenty-two members of Congress have signed a letter asking Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate whether the pharmaceutical industry has violated antitrust laws by restricting sales to Canadian wholesalers and pharmacies that export to the United States. Minnesota's attorney general, Mike Hatch, has announced that he is investigating GlaxoSmithKline for its efforts to restrict drug supplies to Canada.


Drug Makers Settled 7 Suits by Whistle-Blowers, Group Says - Published: November 6, 2003
Drug companies have paid a total of $1.6 billion since 2001 to settle seven suits brought by whistle-blowers that accused them of marketing fraud and overbilling Medicare and Medicaid, according to a report released yesterday by an advocacy group. Each of the seven cases was initiated by whistle-blowers and eventually joined by government lawyers. The defendants were AstraZeneca, Bayer, Dey, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and TAP Pharmaceuticals.


Minnesota Seeks Glaxo Drug Documents - Published: November 18, 2003
Minnesota's attorney general, Mike Hatch, asked a federal court yesterday to compel the drug maker GlaxoSmithKline to produce documents related to the company's clampdown on supplies to online drugstores in Canada.


British Warning on Antidepressant Use for Youth - Published: December 11, 2003
British drug regulators yesterday recommended against the use of all but one of a new generation of antidepressants in the treatment of depressed children under 18. The agency exempted Prozac, from Eli Lilly, but recommended against the use of six drugs: Paxil, from GlaxoSmithKline; Zoloft, from Pfizer; Effexor, from Wyeth; Celexa and Lexapro, from Forest Laboratories Inc., and Luvox, from Solvay.


GLAXOSMITHKLINE LOSES BID TO BLOCK A GENERIC DRUG - Published: January 30, 2004
GlaxoSmithKline, the drug maker, lost a legal bid yesterday to block Impax Laboratories from selling a generic version of its antidepressant Wellbutrin SR


DRUG MAKER AGREES TO PAY $175 MILLION IN LAWSUIT - Published: February 7, 2004
GlaxoSmithKline, the drug maker, agreed to pay $175 million to settle a lawsuit contending that it blocked cheaper generic forms of its Relafen arthritis medicine, in violation of antitrust laws in the United States.


Expert Kept From Speaking At Antidepressant Hearing - Published: April 16, 2004
Top Food and Drug Administration officials admitted yesterday that they barred the agency's top expert from testifying at a public hearing about his conclusion that antidepressants cause children to become suicidal because they viewed his findings as alarmist and premature. The controversy had its start when GlaxoSmithKline sought a six-month extension to its patents on Paxil. To help guide pediatricians' prescribing habits, federal law grants such extensions when companies test their medicines in children.


EUROPE ASKS GLAXOSMITHKLINE TO STRENGTHEN WARNINGS - Published: April 23, 2004
GlaxoSmithKline, the drug maker, should strengthen warnings about severe withdrawal symptoms when patients stop taking its depression medicine Paxil, a European Union advisory panel said.


GLAXO'S ATTEMPT TO STOP SALES OF GENERIC DRUG FAILS - Published: April 24, 2004
GlaxoSmithKline, the drug maker, lost a bid to stop generic drug maker Apotex from selling a version of the antidepressant Paxil.


Spitzer Sues a Drug Maker, Saying It Hid Negative Data - Published: June 3, 2004
In a novel claim testing the way that the $400 billion worldwide pharmaceutical industry is regulated, the New York State attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, sued the British-based drug giant GlaxoSmithKline yesterday, accusing the company of fraud in concealing negative information about its popular antidepressant medicine Paxil.


Selective Disclosure; Two Studies, Two Results, And a Debate Over a Drug - Published: June 3, 2004
The two drug trials were known within SmithKline Beecham as Study 329 and Study 377.


When Drug Companies Hide Data - Published: June 6, 2004
Editorial notes that New York State Atty Gen Eliot Spitzer's civil suit accuses GlaxoSmithKline of committing fraud by concealing negative information about Paxil, drug used to treat depression.


F.D.A. ASKS GLAXOSMITHKLINE TO STOP RUNNING A PAXIL AD - Published: June 12, 2004
The Food and Drug Administration asked GlaxoSmithKline to stop an advertisement for the controlled-release version of its anxiety treatment Paxil, because, the agency said, it was too broad and was misleading about safety issues


Group Weighs Plan for Full Drug-Trial Disclosure - Published: June 15, 2004
An organization of top medical journals is considering a proposal that would require drug makers to register clinical trials at their start in a public database in order for results, whether successful or not, to be later considered for publication, according to three people working with the group. Yesterday, GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of the antidepressant Paxil, released on its company Web site the reports of clinical tests of that drug in children and adolescents suffering from psychological conditions including depression.


Antidepressants Restudied For Relation to Child Suicide - Published: June 20, 2004
A child stabs himself in the neck with a pencil. Another slaps herself in the face. Is either suicidal? It is a question that has divided psychiatrists and drug regulators the world over and goes to the heart of a fierce controversy over whether antidepressants lead some children to become suicidal.


GLAXO TO PAY $92 MILLION TO SETTLE PATENT LAWSUITS - Published: July 9, 2004
GlaxoSmithKline, the drug maker, has agreed to pay $92 million to settle lawsuits accusing it of misusing patents to thwart generic competition to the antibiotic Augmentin


Asia: China: Glaxo Drops Patent Fight - Published: August 19, 2004
GlaxoSmithKline, the European drug maker, gave up a fight to protect a patent for its top diabetes medication in China.


Antidepressant Study Seen to Back Expert - Published: August 20, 2004
A top government scientist who concluded last year that most antidepressants are too dangerous for children because of a suicide risk wrote in a memo this week that a new study confirms his findings. In the new analysis, Paxil, which is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, and Effexor, made by Wyeth, have been found to be even more likely to lead children to become suicidal than Dr. Mosholder's original analysis found, his memo says.


Glaxo Agrees to Post Results Of Drug Trials on Web Site - Published: August 27, 2004
In a settlement that the New York attorney general said would transform the drug industry, GlaxoSmithKline agreed yesterday to post on its Web site the results of all clinical trials involving its drugs.


GLAXO EARNINGS DECLINE FOR FOURTH QUARTER IN A ROW - Published: October 29, 2004
GlaxoSmithKline, the European drug maker, said yesterday that its profit declined for a fourth consecutive quarter as its antidepressant Paxil lost market share and the declining United States dollar reduced revenue


GLAXO RECEIVES SECOND CLAIM FROM I.R.S. IN TAX DISPUTE - Published: January 27, 2005
GlaxoSmithKline said a tax dispute with the United States might cost the company $7.8 billion, after it received a second claim from the government yesterday.


GlaxoSmithKline, production problems with an antidepressant are turning into money problems - Published: March 24, 2005
GlaxoSmithKline remains uncertain about when it can fix its production problems for its popular antidepressant Paxil CR and resume shipments three weeks after Food and Drug Administration seized undelivered supplies of drug


Hiding the Data on Drug Trials - Published: June 1, 2005
Editorial expresses dismay at government report that Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer have effectively reneged on their pledges to list clinical trials of their drugs in federal database


Glaxo Settles U.S. Fraud Charges - Published: September 20, 2005 ABC News
GlaxoSmithKline PLC will pay $150 million to settle claims it overcharged the government for two anti-nausea drugs, and prosecutors say they're looking into 150 cases of drug price fraud.


Glaxo reaches $70 million settlement over price-fixing claims - Published 11/08/2006 (Yorkshire Forward)
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline announced yesterday that it had agreed to pay $70 million (£36.9 million) to settle a number of civil lawsuits filed in the US which accused the company of pricefixing.


GlaxoSmithKline to Settle Tax Dispute With U.S. - Published: September 12, 2006
GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's biggest drug maker, said Monday that it would pay $3.1 billion to settle a tax dispute with the United States government that was set to go to trial next year


Schoolgirls bust Glaxo for lying about Ribena vitamin C - Published: March 27, 2007 (boing Boing Webpage)
Two fourteen-year-old students busted Glaxo for lying about the Vitamin C content of the Ribena drink.