Image: i.dailymail.co.uk
Bloomberg is reporting that GlaxoSmithKline has shelled out almost $1 billion to settle lawsuits over Paxil [Seroxat] since its introduction to the population in 1993. $390 million is reported to have been paid out to settle lawsuits regarding suicides or attempted suicides said to be linked to Glaxo's Paxil [Seroxat]
According to the Bloomberg article, Glaxo so far has paid $200 million to settle Paxil/Seroxat addiction and birth-defect cases and $400 million to end antitrust, fraud and design claims.
Glaxo declined to confirm the $1 billion figure. “Paxil has been on the market in the U.S. since 1993. Like many other pharmaceutical products, it has been the subject of different kinds of litigation over the years,” said Sarah Alspach, a spokeswoman for Glaxo, in an e-mailed statement. “It would be inappropriate and potentially misleading to aggregate payments in these various types of litigation.”
Bloomberg add:
450 suicide-related Paxil cases were settled. Only about a dozen haven’t been, the people said. The $1 billion total doesn’t include more than 600 claims that Paxil caused birth defects.
Dan Carlat, a psychiatrist at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston who writes and edits a blog and a monthly Psychiatry Report, added:
“It’s important to disclose such settlements because it raises the red flag for both doctors and patients that there might be a problem. It would motivate doctors to dig into the literature even more before prescribing these drugs.”
In GlaxoSmithKline's 2008 annual report officials noted that they had reached a “conditional settlement agreement” in January 2006 with Paxil/Seroxat users who alleged they suffered withdrawal symptoms after taking the drug.
You can read the full Bloomberg article HERE
Meantime, a UK Group Action lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline trundles along with the claimants alleging that they all had difficulties withdrawing from Seroxat. On 19 May 2009 the High Court ordered that any individual who wishes to pursue a compensation claim must join the Group Action before 15 January 2010.
Seroxat is the most widely reported SSRi for adverse reactions according to the MHRA website.
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