With one case out of a possible 632 going against them, GlaxoSmithKline are oblivious to the many children whose daily routines have been blighted by their blockbuster selling drug, Paxil [Seroxat in UK].
With a jury finding the world's second biggest pharmaceutical company guilty of negligently failing to warn about the dangers of Paxil in pregnancy and being found guilty of manufacturing a drug that was a “factual cause” in Lyam Kilker being born with heart defects, one would think an apology of some sort was in order. Instead, we hear that GlaxoSmithKline are to appeal against the recent decision. No surprise there, Glaxo's highly paid law team wouldn't be doing their job if they just threw in the towel at this stage.
During the first week or so of the Kilker v GSK trial, Glaxo lawyers called for a mistrial on 5 separate occasions, this figure may be higher as I have only seen the court documents from the 15th Sept to 23rd Sept. They may have made further motions for a mistrial after the 23rd - hopefully more documents will be coming soon.
The Kilker family were awarded $2.5 million, it seems a lot, but when you consider the medical expenses they have already endured, it's a very small pittance.
The jury's decision has made way for a further 632 cases brought against GlaxoSmithKline, one such case being that of 5 year old Manie Edgington from Iowa.
Manie was born with Transposition of the Great Arteries [TGA]. His mother, Julie, briefly explains about TGA on her blog, Big Pharma Victim. She writes:
"TGA means the aorta and pulmonary arteries in the heart are switched. When a child is born with TGA there is very little oxygen in the blood. The aorta receives the oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle, but it's carried back to the body without receiving more oxygen. The pulmonary artery receives the oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle but carries it back to the lungs."
During the past few days, Julie, her husband and 5 children have made a 600 mile round trip to Wisconsin to see a heart specialist. 5 year old Manie has been getting leg and arm cramps plus a whole host of other complaints. The Wisconsin specialist now wants Manie to have a cardiac cath to try and determine why he keeps getting leg and arm cramps. "A cath, Julie writes, is a procedure whereby a small camera is placed inside the artery which runs along the inside of Manie's leg all the up to his heart where they can look at everything."
Not very pleasant huh?
Julie also writes, "Manie also has a leaky heart valve caused by open heart surgery do to the TGA Paxil caused." She continues, "Every time they try and try to see the pulmonary vessels but they can never view them. This is because when you have had your arteries switched, like Manie has, those vessels are just hidden. Well it seem that these very vessels just may be what is causing Manies problems. This was found out in Wisconsin due to the fact the Dr. could hear some problems in that area when listening to Manie's heart. Ahhh haaa makes sense huh."
A simple MRI or CAT scan would be useful for the 5 year old but this avenue has been closed to Manie due to Manie having coils in his chest which could interfere with the expensive machinery. Julie writes, "If Manie had never had the collateral's which required coils then the Dr. may be able to do a MRI or CAT scan to see the vessels. The coils Manie has in his chest will cause interference with the machines which means a pretty messed up picture of a whole lot of nothing. So until we have a cardiac cath done we really just don't know whats going on."
Manie is one of approx 632 children who suffer on a daily basis. Manie, like the other 632 children, all share one common factor. They were all exposed to Paxil during varying stages of their foetal growth.
GlaxoSmithKline deny that Paxil has anything to do with these children being born with heart defects. They denied that Paxil had anything to do with Lyam Kilker being born with heart defects, despite being found guilty, they still deny.
I don't know about you but I am left scratching my head. If you or I were found guilty of a crime we would have every right to appeal, but when a punishment had been handed down to us for that crime any appeal would surely come from behind the bars of a prison if we were ever given a custodial sentence. We certainly wouldn't be given the opportunity to defend ourselves in the media, as Glaxo seem to be doing.
They had their chance to defend themselves in court, their law team could not defend them - they lost.
The only losers in this are these children. It's really not as simple as 'Child A' was born with a defect. 'Child A' will have to go through life visiting specialists, having operations and being restricted in what they can or can't do. Their parents will wake every morning, they won't be heading for the coffee, first stop will be their child's bedroom just to see if he/she made it through the night.
Manie Edgington is fighting against something that he should not be fighting against, he fights for survival. A 600 mile round trip from Iowa to Wisconsin should not be in Manie's itinerary. He should be playing with his brothers, sisters and friends and leading a normal life. His serious heart defect prevents him from doing this.
I salute Manie, Lyam and the other 632 children. I salute their parents too and if Glaxo are found guilty in all of these cases I shall be saluting them too... only that salute will be two fingered!
Fid
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
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