Trump Nominates King & Spalding Attorney

I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2017

Who is Christopher A. Wray?

Well, he's a litigation partner in King & Spalding's Washington DC and Atlanta office.

And who, I hear you ask, are King & Spalding?

Well, they're the law firm who just got spanked in Chicago. They defended GlaxoSmithKline, arguing that their antidepressant, Paxil, did not cause the suicide of Stewart Dolin.

The jury saw through the weak defence and found Glaxo liable.

Prior to joining the firm, Wray served from 2003 to 2005 as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division, the same department who, in 2012, slammed down a $3 billion fine after GlaxoSmithKline pleaded guilty to a whole host of federal crimes.

So, what duties does one who becomes director at the FBI have to carry out?

Well, he's basically responsible for its day-to-day operations.

The FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.

So nice to know that one of King & Spalding's biggest and wealthiest clients, GlaxoSmithKline, may now have someone to oversee any future criminal behaviour of theirs.

This shit just writes itself.

Nice move, Don.


Bob Fiddaman

Paxil in the News Again - Seven Deaths

PAXIL - Death one

It's a rare occasion when I can sit down on weekends and relax. Two news stories that I wish to share with you today can't really wait until Monday. A third, is a news story from 1998 that collectively ties in.

First off, GlaxoSmithKline, the company who had their arses kicked in Chicago back in April this year, have now decided to, once again, put Wendy Dolin and her family through the mill. Not content with the jury's decision, that ruled Paxil (also known as Seroxat) and GSK responsible for the death of Wendy's husband, Stewart, they have now filed a motion for a new trial citing, amongst many things, the trial "was not fair" and that Wendy "did not meet her burden at trial to prove her failure-to-warn claim and her allegation that generic paroxetine caused Stewart Dolin to take his own life."

Furthermore, GSK, just as they did at trial, are blaming Stewart's doctor for prescribing Paxil and also the FDA for apparently refusing to update the suicide warning on Paxil.

GSK are also, it appears, blaming the judge for not properly instructing the jury.

The motions states, "In contrast, the Court denied GSK a fair opportunity to cross-examine Plaintiff’s experts for bias and to present relevant evidence. In addition, Plaintiff had the final word at trial with expert testimony that went far beyond any proper “rebuttal.” These many errors resulted in extraordinary prejudice to GSK, jury confusion, and ultimately a verdict unsupported by the weight of the evidence. A new trial is required."

It was expected that GSK appeal the decision, let's face it, their highly paid law team of King & Spalding defend Paxil cases by the dozen and, even when settling or losing, they always claim that "Paxil has benefited millions of people worldwide", or words to that effect.

If GSK get the green light for a new trial it will mean further distress for Wendy Dolin and her family. More subpoenas, more questioning, more mud-slinging.

King & Spalding lost the case because a jury of men and women ruled against them. To save face, and to show GSK how they lost because it was an unfair trial, Messrs Bayman & Davis (King & Spalding) wish to bring their circus to town once more.

Stewart Dolin jumped to his death after Paxil induced akathisia, a condition that GSK, and other pharmaceutical companies, have played down for years.

I'll keep you updated on developments.


PAXIL - Death two & three

Back in 2011, 29-year-old Renske Hekman, from Baflo, Netherlands, was brutally murdered by her boyfriend, Alasam Samaria, who had picked up a fire extinguisher in the hall of her apartment and beaten Renske to death. He then shot a police officer dead.

Renske's father, Eddy Hekman and his daughter's killer, Alasam Samaria, have, in a remarkable twist of fate, now joined forces and wrote a book together. The book, Een coupé verder: over het drama van Baflo, wat eraan voorafging en wat erop volgde (The tragedy of Baflo, what preceded it and what followed), highlights Samaria's use of Paxil, particularly on the day he murdered, or was induced by Paxil to murder, Renske.

The book shows how on April 13, 2011, Samaria's psychiatrist tripled the dose of Paxil. At the scene of the crime police said of Samaria that he looked like "a zombie with empty eyes."

Just as in the Dolin Vs. GSK trial, evidence was shown how Stewart acted out of character. He had no previous history of wanting to kill himself. Paxil, like a lot of other SSRIs, can induce psychosis and consumers can, at times, feel not only suicidal but homicidal too.

PAXIL Death four, five, six and seven

In 1998, the town of Gillette, Wyoming, became infamous for all the wrong reasons.

Donald Schell (60) shot to death his family members, Rita Schell, Deborah Tobin, and Alyssa Tobin, before turning the gun on himself. Nobody knew, at the time, why such a loving man would carry out such a heinous crime.

Step forward surviving son-in-law, Tim Tobin, who brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Glaxo because Donald Schell was, basically, 'normal' before he started taking Glaxo's wonder drug, Paxil. The jury in the Tobin v SmithKline Beecham (SKB) trial concluded that Paxil could cause someone to carry out suicide or homicide and that the drug was in fact a proximate cause of the deaths in this case. Glaxo were fined around $6.4 million.

The Tobin verdict - Click to enlarge

At the time of the verdict, Charles F. Preuss, a lawyer for the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, said the verdict was "a surprise." He added, ''This issue was raised in the early 90's, and since that time all the scientific articles have concluded that these antidepressants do not cause suicide or homicide or suicidal thoughts,'' 

Once again, GSK in denial, even after being held liable.

Seven deaths. One drug.

One would have thought the evidence, however, is clear...

Bob Fiddaman
Author of "The evidence, however, is clear, the Seroxat scandal."


Related

Dolin Verdict

The Guardian - Experience: I made peace with my daughter’s killer, by Eddy Hekman

New York Times - Tobin Verdict

Glaxo's Beef With David Healy Part II

Following on from Glaxo's Beef With David Healy, which I wrote about back in October 2015.

Back story.

In summary, Wendy Dolin has filed a suit against Paxil (Seroxat) manufacturers, GSK, alleging that Paxil caused the suicide of her husband, Stewart. Since filing Wendy has been subject to GSK's defence lawyers subpoenaing her cellphone and text message records, her home phone and her late husband's company phone. King & Spalding, GSK's defence team, have also asked Wendy about her love life and shown the private medical notes of her later husband to her children.

Not content with targeting a grieving wife, GSK have also singled out David Healy, an expert called by Dolin in the case against GSK.

In short, they have claimed that Healy should not be allowed to give evidence in the trial, he's not credible, he has a bias, he's telling people to go out and kill.

It's all hot air, much of which has been cherry-picked from Healy's blog and, in some instances misquoted and misguided - for example GSK's highly paid law team, who must have combed through Healy's blog by borrowing their client's rat-infested flea comb have claimed Healy has said things when in actual fact he hasn't, it's been comments left by others on Healy's blog - so much for crossing the T's and dotting the i's, huh?

Anyway, you get the gist, right?

GSK target the person filing the suit against them then, after failing, they then target that person's expert witness. You just have to love how King & Spalding operate at times.

Well, they failed in getting Healy's testimony thrown out. In fact, they wanted all four of Dolin's witnesses to not have their testimony's aired.

 They were denied these motions by Judge James B. Zagel who, in summary, said...

“I am denying all four of GSK’s motions to exclude. The Daubert criteria are satisfied when a well-credentialed expert provides well-supported opinions that are relevant and reliable.”

One would have thought that was that - but remember, we are dealing here with a pharmaceutical company (and their attorneys) who will try everything in the book when the defence of Paxil becomes so weak.


GMC BACKGROUND

In 2013 Healy found himself under the spotlight after a patient in his care suicided. This event spurned a review by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) who, for reasons not known, hired an external consulting Psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Higgo to take a role in the review process.

The review, according to Healy, was meant to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident. Higgo, in his review, accused Healy of misconduct.and submitted his findings to the BCUHB.

In response to Higgo's allegations the BCUHB...

(1) initiated an internal investigation to examine the allegations

and

(2) sent a referral to the GMC to explore whether there was any misconduct that would raise concern about Dr. Healy’s fitness to practice medicine.

To cut a long story short, Healy was exonerated by the GMC. They concluded...

"As Dr. Healy had stated from the very beginning, that Dr. Higgo’s report was unfounded and that Dr. Healy did not engage in any conduct putting his fitness to practice medicine into question."

So, Healy was cleared. Here's where it gets interesting.

While in America, Healy was tracked down by attorneys who served him with a subpoena, the gist of which was that he should produce all documents concerning the BCUHB and GMC investigations.

No guessing who those attorneys were.

Healy refused, citing that it would jeopardise his employment as a physician and documents that were deemed privileged and confidential by BCUHB.

GSK then filed a motion to the court, basically demanding that Healy produce the documents.

The court asked to see the document in chambers (ie; just them and not GSK) so they could make a decision as to whether these documents were relevant to the Dolin case, moreover, relevant to GSK's argument that Healy's testimony in the Dolin case should be heard.

Healy handed over the documents to the court in July last year.

It was during the courts review of these documents that GSK filed motions for Healy to be dismissed as an expert witness - as previously mentioned, the court denied them this.

But, on and on they go. GSK now wish to conduct a hearing with Healy before the Dolin trial date of January 2017. Dolin, via her attorney, Brent Wisner of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, sent another letter to GSK indicating that...

“...in light of the recent ruling by the General Medical Council (“GMC”) clearing Dr. Healy of wrongdoing, this proceeding is no longer necessary or relevant.” 

Furthermore, plaintiff added that if GSK wish to pursue this matter then  she (Dolin) would like to conduct targeted discovery related to GSK’s interactions, if any, with GMC and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (“BCUHB”)

Has the penny dropped yet?

The GMC exonerated Healy but now, it seems, GSK want their own kangaroo court to attack him even further.

In a quite genius twist Dolin's legal team have now asked the court that if GSK are granted a special hearing with Healy before trial then they request that plaintiff should be permitted to conduct targeted discovery relating to any influence GSK may have had in BCUHB’s or the GMC’s investigation of Dr. Healy.

In short, Dolin is asking for...

All documents reflecting communications between GSK or its agents, including counsel representing GSK, and Robert Poole, Robert Higgo, Giles Harborne, Matt Makin, Alberto Salmoiraghi, Peter Higson, or anyone at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board that mention or discuss Dr. David Healy.

All documents reflecting any payments or monies by GSK or its agents, including counsel representing GSK, to the aforementioned.

They've requested the same documents between GSK and the GMC too.

I wouldn't put it past anyone connected with GSK to find ways to sling mud at one of their biggest critics - I've heard the 'bullet left on a car story' but thought it was just folklore - I'm seriously beginning to think there was merit in that claim from a plaintiff who went up against GSK many years ago... apparently they wouldn't accept GSK's offer, next thing they know, there's an empty bullet casing left on their car...but that's another story.

Who needs John Grisham, huh?

The whole sordid affair, or rather matter of affairs, has me wondering if GSK's UK legal team will go down the same road when defending Paxil in a UK lawsuit next year. Just over a hundred people have filed a group action claiming they suffered as a consequence of withdrawing from Paxil. In 2002 GSK settled over 3,000 similar cases in the United States but, for one reason or another, GSK won't settle with those who make the same claims against them in the UK.

Will they be mud slinging Healy et al again, or bloggers for that matter?

The motion to vacate the 'special hearing' was filed by R. Brent Wisner on August 1.


Author's note.

Researching pharmaceutical companies, in particular GlaxoSmithKline, over the past ten years or so has taught me a few things when it comes to litigation.

1. The pharmaceutical company will defend cases in antidepressant related suicide, homicide, birth defects and withdrawal - even though the drug in question has been proven to cause such adverse reactions - they will, under oath, admit their drug can cause all of the above but will refute that (in the case they are defending) it did not cause x,y, or z to kill themselves or cause induced homicide, birth defects or horrific withdrawal problems.

2. They will drag litigation out for as long as they can, throwing subpoenas left, right and centre - they will object to this and that and will file motions in the hope that plaintiffs attorney's will spend more - thus settle at a later date for a meagre offer - See the Paxil birth defect case - Joanne Thomas v GlaxoSmithKline here and here.

3. They like to show their teeth. It's a way to stop further litigation against them. The actions in the case of Dolin v GlaxoSmithKline is basically a stark warning being sent out to anyone who may have ideas of going up against GSK in the future. It doesn't matter if you lost your child to suicide or had to abort your child due to birth defects caused by Paxil - or if you lost your job and marriage due to horrific Paxil withdrawal - you are dealing with a company that shows no empathy - it's an entity that is psychopathic - it cares not a jot about personal feelings - Grinding its teeth and digging its heels in is just an advertisement by proxy. The message being, Oppose us and we will make your life a complete misery. They not only do this with people who bring claims against them, they do it with expert witnesses who go up against them. One only has to look at the way they have targeted David Healy - it's not just about targeting Healy, it's about sending a message out to other future expert witnesses.

That's my take on things anyway.

Anyone know how the ruckus between David and Goliath finally ended up?

Answers on a postcard to King & Spalding.



Bob Fiddaman


Related

Court document shows how a jury, in 2001, found GSK's Paxil responsible for inducing suicide and/or homicide.

Paxil Widow Steps Up Fight Against GSK

Law360 is a lawyer driven website that keeps many law firms across the globe up-to-date with legal news as it breaks. It's subscription based and deals a lot in US litigation. I've read many articles from Law360 in the past none more interesting than their recent publication, 'Reed Smith Atty’s Widow Wages Battle Against Paradox Of Generic Drug Injury Law'.


It peaked my interest as it pertains to a case I've covered many times on this blog. (Links at the foot of this post)

Wendy Dolin is suing GSK over the death of her husband Stewart after he was prescribed Paroxetine (better known as Paxil and Seroxat)  in 2010  for "work-related anxiety and depression". Six days after beginning his course of medication Stewart killed himself by leaping in front of a northbound train in downtown Chicago.

Wendy has maintained all along that her husband showed marked signs of akathisia during the short time he was taking Paxil. For those of you who don't know, akathisia is basically when a patient, after administering psychiatric medication, becomes agitated, distressed, and shows signs of restlessness. Often the patient has an inability to sit still and, in some cases, will pace up and down for no apparent reason. In fact, as Wendy recalls, her husband told her one night, “I don't get it, Wendy. I still feel so anxious.”

The Law360 article focuses, in part, on Wendy's claim that her husband experienced signs of akathisia. This is quite an unusual step for Law360 as, in the main, they report impartially on trials (past and present) and rarely feature interviews with actual plaintiffs of trials that are pending litigation.

In the article Wendy tells Law360's reporter, Sindhu Sundar, that she had heard the term 'akathisia' from a friend sometime after Stewart's death. Like many people she had never heard of the word before. She told Law360...

“I’d got home that night and Googled akathisia, Paxil, and suicide, and lo and behold, all this information pops up,” (referring to search results of papers published in psychiatry journals and litigation summaries on law firm websites.) "It was completely clear — all of us were looking through our emails and notes from him and there was no clue, nothing, that it could have been something else."

Here's where it gets tricky and somewhat complex. Stewart, you see, was taking a generic version of Paxil manufactured by Mylan and, in a nutshell, Glaxo argued that it should be Mylan that she sued and not them. However, after much legal wrangling, it was deterred that Glaxo were responsible for the warning literature that accompanied Paxil and any of it's generic forms. Ergo her claim of negligence and wrongful death should stand.

It's not as straight forward as one might think when pharmaceutical companies try to make changes to their warning labels. GSK, after learning that they would have to go to trial, then argued that they had approached the American drug regulator, the FDA, on two occasions to change the warnings on their branded version of paroxetine (Paxil). GSK allege that the FDA refused on these two occasions to make any changes to the labelling.

A pretty decent defence one would think, however, GSK did not try a third time, as was the normal protocol. According to court documents and Law360...

Although GSK had asked the FDA about adding Paxil­specific warnings to the agency’s class wide warnings in 2007 in order to alert doctors and patients about the drug’s potential to cause suicidal tendencies in adults, it did not follow through with the agency’s invitation to ask for a formal meeting to discuss that change, Dolin has argued.

GSK has dismissed this argument as mere “conjecture about a meeting that did not take place,” countering that it had submitted two different sets of documents to the FDA under its Changes Being Effected program, which allows branded ­drug makers to update their labels based on new information. Each time, GSK said, it sought to retain warnings specific to Paxil on its label, but it received a rejection by the agency, according to its filings.

Defense attorneys believe GSK’s argument could offer an important window for the drugmaker to persuade the jury that even if it had actually called for such a meeting, the FDA would likely not have approved it.

“Both Judge Zagel and Dolin have said here, ‘You could have had that meeting, so you haven’t exhausted all your options to show that the FDA couldn’t be convinced otherwise.” 

It's interesting to note here that GSK are admitting that, in 2007, they wished to alert doctors and patients about the drug’s potential to cause suicidal tendencies in adults yet they are defending the allegations that Paxil (paroxetine) caused Stewart to take his own life. GSK, it seems, don't defend the fact that Paxil can cause suicide in adults, they use points of law to hide this fact instead.

Having your cake and eating it, anyone?

Since the claim was filed in 2012 GSK have sent Wendy more than 30 subpoenas, they have also made over 70 record requests and have shown the Dolin children their father’s private medical notes. To top it all, GSK’s lawyers have been asking (goading) Wendy about her love life since her husband killed himself. Moreover, GSK have also tried (unsuccessfully) to exclude testimony from Wendy's expert witnesses. Joseph Glenmullen is one of those witnesses and GSK argued that he "had not shown any idea linking Paxil to suicides, only to suicide attempts."

Another expert GSK tried to exclude was David Healy. Their treatment of him became more of a personal attack. They claimed that Healy wasn't qualified to testify because of his radical advocacy and extreme bias against GSK. They had taken extracts from Healy's websites and cherry-picked certain paragraphs to make it look as though Healy had called upon people to extract violence upon GSK executives and journal writers. They were wrong and Judge Zagel has allowed all three testimonies into trial.

When experts give evidence in litigation they are first depositioned by the opposing party. In the case of Healy, his deposition with GSK's lawyers last almost 10 hours, the majority of which focused on his personal life and not the science behind his expert opinion.

It's just another classic case of GSK dragging out time in efforts to get the plaintiff, in this case, Wendy Dolin, to accept their first measly offer, should they make an offer (which history tells us that they more than likely will)

Glaxo just love to grind down the opposition in litigation ~ they are finding that Wendy Dolin and her law team of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, PC are not in the game of lying down and having their tummies tickled nor are they bothered by the amount of money Glaxo's cigar chomping suits throw at the case.

Glaxo are also defending group action brought against them in the UK with regard to Paxil ~ it's litigation that has been dragging on for almost ten years now - who knows, maybe Glaxo's UK and US lawyers drag these cases out so everyone who works for their firms gets a regular wage, after all it's GSK who are billed every month to pay their attorneys wages.

Wendy Dolin is, despite the death of her husband and the abhorrent tactics of GSK's lawyers, still standing - her lance at the ready for battle - a female Don Quixote, if you will.

Stewart would be proud of her.



Bob Fiddaman.


Back stories related to this case.

GSK Claim Phone Calls May Shed Light On Suicide

GSK Use Delay Tactics on Grieving Widow

Glaxo's Beef With David Healy

GSK Sink to New Level in Paxil Suicide Litigation

GSK: Motions Denied in Paxil Suicide Case

Paxil Suicide Case Set For Trial

Paxil Birth Defects: GSK Attorney Sinks to New Low

Todd Davis ~ remember the name. Davis is an attorney who has represented GlaxoSmithKline on numerous occasions. He is employed by King & Spalding.

On with the story...

Elisabeth Balzer took Paxil while pregnant. Her son, Braden, was born with tetralogy of fallot (a combination of four heart defects). A  cardiologist expert witness, Dr. Ra-id Abdulla, testified that a review of Braden Rader’s and his mother’s medical records showed that Braden’s heart defects was related to exposure to Paxil during his mother’s pregnancy. Abdulla also pointed out (under cross-examination) that the American Heart Association has already “assessed, documented, and judged” the existence of a causal link between Paxil and heart defects.

Braden has already been through two heart surgeries, one several months after his birth and the second just last year.

A few days later it was the turn of Braden's mother, Elisabeth, to take the stand. Elizabeth began speaking of her emotional response to Braden undergoing open-heart surgery as an infant. Immediately Glaxo's counsel objected, moreover, Todd Davis argued that Balzer did not have valid claims for any pain, suffering or emotional distress she may have had as a result of her son’s injury.

Using Mississippi state law, Davis said, “She didn’t know that the injury happened to Braden. It occurred during the first trimester. There’s no way she could have any physical impact from an injury that she didn’t know had occurred.”

Balzer’s lawyer, James Morris Jr, of Morris Law Firm, responded by saying,  “What could be more shocking or upsetting to a woman than to be advised that your baby has a birth defect? To talk about her as if she was a bystander is ridiculous. This child was inside her when the defect occurred. It was delivered, her own child, with the defect. I’m shocked that that type of argument would even be made. If the appellate courts and the Supreme Court want to go with Mr. Davis’s theory then I really regret where this country is headed.”

The outcome?

Judge Kenneth Powell, who was presiding over matters, sided with GSK's counsel. Powell said, "I will not permit the plaintiff to testify about physical injury or physical manifestations or anything that denotes pain and suffering” in front of the jury."

A week or so later Balzer had her case against GSK dismissed in yet, it has to be said, more bizarre circumstances/ reasons given by Judge Kenneth Powell. Judge Powell found that Dr. Robert Kiehn’s (Elizabeth's prescribing physician) testimony did not include an important detail: that he would have refrained from prescribing Paxil to the pregnant Mrs. Balzer had he been given more adequate warnings of the possible risks.

However, another of Balzer’s lawyers, Adam Peavy of Bailey Peavy Bailey Cowan Heckaman PLLC, disagreed, he said, “To suggest that the question was never asked is not accurate. It was asked multiple times about what he would’ve done with a different warning, or if he was warned about Paxil causing birth defects. Your honor excluded that evidence.”

So, to recap.

Elizabeth Balzer's prescribing physician was asked numerous times during deposition whether or not he would have prescribed Paxil to her had a warning of birth defects being caused by Paxil would have, at the time, been available to him.

Judge Powell excluded this part of the testimony.

Powell then rules in favour of GSK by claiming that there was no evidence to show that Balzer's treating physician would have prescribed her Paxil had he have known about the Paxil birth defect link ~ of course there wasn't any evidence, the Judge himself had, previously in the trial, excluded it from being heard!

Adam Peavy of Bailey Peavy Bailey Cowan Heckaman in Houston, who represented Rader, said he plans to appeal.

This isn't the first time Davis has made claims that people under deposition or on the stand couldn't have "possibly known." In 2007 Davis also tried to use the "Couldn't have known" argument, this time, however, he was protecting Sally K. Laden, a ghostwriter for GSK. Once again, the drug in question was Paxil. (Back story)

Hats off to Todd Davis of King & Spalding. He really earned his corn on this one ~ he used the Mississippi law to Glaxo's advantage.

Hats off too to whatever religious belief Davis follows. It must be wonderful to have a doctrine whereby mothers aren't permitted to show any form of emotion when discussing their child's birth defects. Who knows, maybe Davis is an atheist?

I take it that a Bible was sworn on at some point during these proceedings? I'd just like to know where in the Bible it states that "Thou shalt not show emotions if they are female."

Kudos too to Judge Kenneth Powell who should be awarded with the 'Short-Term Memory of the Year Award.'

Bob Fiddaman.




Sources:

Legal Reader

Law360

The Legal Inteligencer


Related

Ryan, Glaxo's Non-Viable Fetus - Part I

Ryan, Glaxo's Non-Viable Fetus - Part II - The Twists

Glaxo Declined FDA Invitation to Discuss Paxil Adult Suicide Warning

I love the rain 

Well, I love the rain 

Here she comes again 

I love the rain 

Ian Astbury

Billy Duffy

In appealing a judgement made by Judge James B. Zagel in the WENDY B. DOLIN, Plaintiff v. SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORPORATION, Defendant, case Glaxo have found themselves in hot water after a recent court document was made public.

The document is yet another ruling by Judge James B. Zagel who, it appears, is the current thorn in the side of GlaxoSmithKline who have been pulling all the strings to try and halt, be it temporary or permanent, this case going to trial.

Back stories of Glaxo's shenanigans at the foot of this post.

The latest attempt by Glaxo to undermine the previous judgments in this Paxil suicide case comes as no surprise, to me at least.

Basically they, via their highly paid legal team of King & Spalding, have just had two further motions denied by Judge James B. Zagel. In giving his opinion Zagel offers his reasoning, and it just doesn't look good for Glaxo, particularly where their defence of Paxil causing suicide in adults is concerned.

Zagel's Memorandum and Opinion Order shows that...

"On June 22, 2007, the FDA extended an invitation to GSK to discuss the option of keeping the 2006 Paxil-specific adult language in its current label by requesting a formal meeting. Specifically, the FDA told GSK: “If you would like to discuss this matter further [keeping the 2006 Paxil-specific adult warning in the Paxil label], please submit a formal meeting request.” GSK, however, never asked for a formal meeting, nor did it seek additional labeling regarding Paxil-specific data. Moreover, GSK never sent a separate supplement and declined the FDA’s invitation for a meeting to discuss the inclusion of the 2006 Paxil-specific adult warnings."

Zagel denied Glaxo's  “implied conflict preemption” motion,

The second motion (summary judgment) filed by GSK centres around their claim that the prescribing doctor  knew that Paxil increased the risk of adult suicidal behavior prior to prescribing the drug to Wndy Dolin's husband, Stewart. GSK also argued that the Paxil warning label is "adequate" as a matter of law. Glaxo also went over old ground that Judge Zagel has previously ruled on, that being that  they (GSK) cannot be held liable because Mr. Dolin ingested the generic form of Paxil and not the name-brand drug itself.

On denying Glaxo's four-part summary judgement motion, Zagel said that according to testimony the doctor in question did not know that Paxil increased the risk of suicidal behavior in adults over 24 prior to prescribing Paxil to Mr. Dolin in 2010. Furthermore, he  relied upon the 2010 Paxil label before prescribing Paxil to Mr. Dolin and that the 2010 Paxil label does not adequately warn about the risk of suicidal behavior beyond age 24.

Zagel added, "This is enough to defeat GSK’s motion for summary judgment."

It's raining pretty hard for Glaxo at the moment. In the UK, on Feb 4th 2016, Glaxo had similar requests turned down - once again the drug involved is Paxil, although it is sold and marketed as Seroxat in the UK. (See UK Seroxat Litigation to Press Ahead)


Dolin is represented by Michael L. Baum, Bijan Esfandiari, Frances M. Phares and R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman PC and David Rapoport, Joshua Weisberg and Lindsey Epstein of Rapoport Law Offices PC.

GlaxoSmithKline is represented by Alan S. Gilbert of Dentons, Andrew T. Bayman, Todd P. Davis and Heather M. Howard of King & Spalding LLP and Robert E. Glanville, Tamar P. Halpern and Eva Canaan of Phillips Lytle LLP.

Source: Public Access to Court Documents (Pacer) 


Bob Fiddaman

Back Stories

DOLIN V GSK

Paxil Suicide Case Set For Trial

For those who have been following this particular case you'll know some of the methods GlaxoSmithKline's lawyers, King & Spalding, have been using to try and get the case dismissed before it goes to trial.


Background

In June 2010 Stewart Dolin visited his family doctor who wrote him a prescription for Paxil for "work-related anxiety and depression".

Dolin's prescription was dispensed but he received the generic form, manufactured by Mylan.

Six days after beginning his course of the generic Paxil, Dolin left his office shortly after having returned from lunch with a business associate. He walked to a nearby Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line station at Washington and Dearborn in downtown Chicago. As a northbound train approached the station, Mr. Dolin leaped in front of it to his death. Blood tests taken with Mr. Dolin’s autopsy were positive for paroxetine (Paxil)

Stewart's wife, Wendy Dolin, filed suit against GSK claiming Paxil had induced the suicide of her husband. ((Dolin v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. et al., case number 1:12-cv-06403)


Legal Background

First off, GSK argued that Dolin was taking the generic version of Paxil marketed and manufactured by Mylan, ergo they were not responsible for the drug inducing suicide. However, a  U.S. District Judge told Mylan that they would not have to face any trial but said Glaxo was responsible for the generic drug’s design and warning label and would have to face negligence claims.

Since filing, Dolin has been sent more than 30 subpoenas from GSK, they have also made over 70 record requests and have shown the Dolin children their father’s private medical notes. To top it all, GSK’s lawyers have been asking (goading) Wendy about her love life since her husband killed himself.

GSK then turned their attention to four expert witnesses. One of those witnesses, Dr. David Healy, came under heavy fire from Glaxo’s gunslingers, King & Spalding. They had accused Healy of being a radical activist who held an extreme bias against GSK. Furthermore, GSK had probed into Healy’s private life and had, during a 10 hour deposition, talked more about his finances than the actual science behind Paxil and induced suicide.

GSK filed motions to exclude all four expert testimonies from the trial, they were denied these motions by Judge James B. Zagel who, in summary, said...

“I am denying all four of GSK’s motions to exclude. The Daubert criteria are satisfied when a well-credentialed expert provides well-supported opinions that are relevant and reliable.”

Moving Forward

Yesterday (Tuesday Jan 12) Judge James B. Zagel ruled that the suit filed by Dolin should now move straight to trial. Glaxo, via their attorneys, weren't happy and, according to Law360, spent nearly an hour arguing that David Healy, an expert for Dolin, should reveal documents tied to a patient of his who committed suicide. However, privacy laws suggest that Healy could be fired if he were to reveal patient information. One would have thought that Glaxo know all about privacy laws, it was they who told Healy that he could not reveal any information he gleaned by looking at GSK's own internal documents in a previous case against them, a case incidentally that implicated Paxil and suicide. GSK lost that case - Judgement below.

Dolin is represented by Michael L. Baum, Bijan Esfandiari, Frances M. Phares and R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman PC and David Rapoport, Joshua Weisberg and Lindsey Epstein of Rapoport Law Offices PC.

GlaxoSmithKline is represented by Alan S. Gilbert of Dentons, Andrew T. Bayman, Todd P. Davis and Heather M. Howard of King & Spalding LLP and Robert E. Glanville, Tamar P. Halpern and Eva Canaan of Phillips Lytle LLP.




Here's Wendy speaking openly about her husband's induced suicide. She speaks with grace, courage and dignity, quite the opposite to how GlaxoSmithKline and their highly paid attorneys have treated her.

Bob Fiddaman.

GSK: Motions Denied in Paxil Suicide Case

Earlier this year I reported on how GSK, via their team of highly-paid lawyers, had targeted four expert witnesses that were due to give evidence in (Dolin v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. et al., case number 1:12-cv-06403)

For those that don't know, Wendy Dolin had filed suit against GSK claiming that their antidepressant, Paxil, had induced the suicide of her husband, Stewart. Since filing, Wendy has, just like the four expert witnesses due to give expert opinion supporting her claim, has come under fire from GSK. In fact, Wendy Dolin has been sent more than 30 subpoenas from GSK, they have also made over 70 record requests and have shown the Dolin children their father's private medical notes. To top it all, GSK's lawyers have been asking (goading) Wendy about her love life since her husband killed himself.

Not satisfied with targeting a bereaved wife, GSK then turned their attention to four expert witnesses. One of those witnesses, Dr. David Healy, came under heavy fire from Glaxo's gunslingers, King & Spalding. They had accused Healy of being a radical activist who held an extreme bias against GSK (insert tears here). Furthermore, GSK had probed into Healy's private life and had, during a 10 hour deposition, talked more about his finances than the actual science behind Paxil and induced suicide.

The decision is in folks and.... (drum roll)..

GSK have been roundly trounced.

Judge James B. Zagel, in summary, said...

"I am denying all four of GSK’s motions to exclude. The Daubert criteria are satisfied when a well-credentialed expert provides well-supported opinions that are relevant and reliable. My decision does not, however, mean that the reliable opinions of all four of these expert witnesses are correct—reliability is a measure of consistency of opinions, not necessarily a measure of correctness. Such a determination will be the job of a fact-finder at trial."

Healy, along with three other experts, namely; Dr. David Ross, Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, and Dr. Roger Grimson, will now be allowed to offer their expert opinions in the Dolin case, something that GSK have fought desperately hard to suppress and, as I suspect, may now be the factor in some sort of settlement being agreed upon.

This isn't the first time GSK have faced claims that Paxil induces suicides in adults. In 2001 a jury returned a verdict that Paxil was responsible for inducing homicide and suicide in Don Schell, who had, some years previous, shot to death his wife, daughter and granddaughter before turning the gun on himself.

Glaxo were ordered to pay $6.4 million to the remaining family members.To the layman, it beggars belief why Glaxo would oppose the claims of Wendy Dolin given that they have already lost one Paxil induced suicide case. The mud-slinging and goading of plaintiff and expert witnesses doesn't surprise me in the least, it's what I have come to expect of Glaxo and their defence lawyers. Wendy Dolin isn't the first plaintiff to have pressure put on her by Glaxo, she won't be the last. Healy et al aren't the first expert witnesses to have mud thrown at them, again, they won't be the last.

If anything, this ruling has shown Glaxo that no matter how hard they try to suppress those who wish to seek the truth, they will always fail.

I hope the Dolin case goes the whole hog and isn't settled. To put Paxil in the public eye (yet again) is something that needs to be done. The message that this antidepressant can cause homicidal and suicidal acts needs to be repeated. It is, in my opinion, a menace to society just as, I believe, GlaxoSmithKline are. Yeh, okay, we will have those that say Glaxo have saved millions of lives with vaccines and have helped millions of people with various respiratory diseases, fair enough, I guess, but that does not give them the right to market and manufacture drugs that can induce homicide and suicide - it's akin to the defence of a serial killer, 'He donated to charities every week your honour, so what if he killed a dozen or so adults, he's a decent man, at heart."

Glaxo need to step up to the plate. They need to compensate Wendy Dolin for her loss, they need to stop pussy-footing around and acknowledge that defending Paxil in suicide cases is a fruitless exercise, they know it, their shareholders know it and the general public know it. Paxil is a nasty drug that causes more harm than good. Glaxo claim Paxil has helped millions of people worldwide but just like the fictitious serial killer above, they throw a blanket over the darker side of Paxil, the induced homicide and suicide, the birth defects, the horrific withdrawal suffered by those trying to stop Paxil.

It will be interesting to see what Glaxo's next step is regarding the Dolin case. They've thrown pretty much everything at the grieving widow but she has stood firm and remained strong because she knows that the truth will, eventually, out.


Bob Fiddaman

Glaxo's Beef With David Healy

I've been watching the proceedings of a current trial in the US. It involves the wife of a man who killed himself shortly after being prescribed Paxil.

If you are like me, a bit of a geek when it comes to reading court documents, then you will just love this.

It plays out like a John Grisham novel. Here we get to see the mechanics of defence lawyers, particularly when it comes to allowing expert witnesses to offer evidence against the company they are representing, in this instance, GlaxoSmithKline.

Background:

In June 2010 Stewart Dolin visited his family doctor who wrote him a prescription for Paxil for "work-related anxiety and depression".

Dolin's prescription was dispensed but he received the generic form, manufactured by Mylan.

Six days after beginning his course of the generic Paxil, Dolin left his office shortly after having returned from lunch with a business associate. He walked to a nearby Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line station at Washington and Dearborn in downtown Chicago. As a northbound train approached the station, Mr. Dolin leaped in front of it to his death. Blood tests taken with Mr. Dolin’s autopsy were positive for paroxetine.

Stewart's wife, Wendy, filed suit against GSK. (Dolin v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. et al., case number 1:12-cv-06403)

Motions:

GSK have filed so many motions in this case. Basically, they write to a judge asking him to make a decision on claims they make. In the case of Dolin they first claimed that, although Stewart Dolin had taken paroxetine, it wasn't their brand. In fact, the brand that Dolin had taken was a generic form, manufactured by Mylan and not GlaxoSmithKline.

On March 4, 2014, an Illinois federal judge determined that GlaxoSmithKline PLC can be held liable for a suicide even though the consumer took a generic version of the antidepressant Paxil, (Source)

Next form of defence for Glaxo's highly paid law team, King & Spalding, was to target the person bringing the claim against them. In this instance, the wife of the deceased, Wendy Dolin.

GSK's defence lawyers subpoenaed Wendy Dolin's cellphone and text message records, her home phone and her late husband's company phone.

Wendy then filed her own motion stating that she had already complied with what she characterized as GSK's intrusive discovery requests, and accused GSK of excessive prying that would not end without the court's intervention.

Furthermore, Wendy claimed in her motion that GSK had sent more than 30 subpoenas and over 70 records requests, and shown the Dolin children Stewart Dolin's confidential therapy notes despite Wendy Dolin's objections.

GSK has also taken hours of deposition testimony from her and grilled her about her personal medical information and her romantic life since her husband's death, according to her motion.

On September 12, 2014, Dolin and GSK came to a "resolution" regarding Glaxo's contentious subpoena. The resolution has, to date, remained confidential.

So, in attempts to, what can be seen as dragging the case out, King & Spalding have now turned their attentions on experts called by Dolin. One such expert witness is Dr. David Healy.

Healy and colleagues, earlier this month, published a damning report on Glaxo's handling of Study 329, a clinical trial involving adolescents and the use of Paxil. Glaxo had, back in 2001, claimed Paxil was safe and efficacious in this patient population. Turns out, they were lying and just spun the results, putting thousands of teens at risk - See (Restoring Study 329)

Fair to say then that Healy is not on Glaxo's Christmas card list.

Muddy the waters:

So, what does one do with criticism, what does one do to suppress the truth?

We've seen the above tactics of GSK's highly paid law team.

1. Claim it's not our drug, ergo not our responsibility

2. Throw endless subpoenas at the person bringing the claim, including delving into her late husband's phone records in the small hope they can find a crumb of evidence that will help them suppress the truth about the Paxil suicide link in adults.

3. Show the children of the deceased personal confidential therapy notes from their father.

4. Grill the widow about her medical background and romantic interests since the death of her husband.

Way to go King & Spalding, you're basically a mirror image of the clients you represent (my opinion "Todd" - see disclaimer at foot of blog - it's been there for years)

Not satisfied with raping the memory of Stewart Dolin, King & Spalding have now turned their attention to David Healy.

Now, I'm not going to blow smoke up Healy's ass, he's one of the good guys, that's all you need to know. He raises awareness because he cannot just stand by and watch bad drugs do harm. That alone should be applauded. Healy has a lot more to lose than your average blogger (myself included). He puts his career on the line by speaking out, it's one hell of a sacrifice. He could have quite easily closed his eyes but he has something that we all have, something that only those with blackened hearts suppress.

Conscience.

King & Spalding nefarious, nae rabid, attack on Healy is not too dissimilar to the raping of Stewart Dolin's memory.

So, what's this motion about?

Well, according to King & Spalding, Healy should not be allowed to give evidence in the trial, he's not credible, he has a bias, he's telling people to go out and kill.

Yup, you read that last bit correctly.

GSK's motion to exclude Healy is a work of art, the kind of art many of us don't understand. It's a huge pile of excrement carefully sculptured by the expert hands of King & Spalding's finest. Ironic that this huge pile of steaming cak is called a motion!

Here's some of the reasons why they don't want Healy to give evidence.

1. Dr Healy is not qualified to testify because of his radical advocacy and extreme bias against GSK.

Oh, boo hoo. Naughty Dr. Healy having an opinion on GSK. Since when did someone with an opinion become a radical activist?

Would this actually have something to do with the fact that Healy has, in the past, given his expert opinion in the cases of Kilker vs GSK and Tobin v GSK. In both cases jury's found GSK guilty. The Kilker case saw GSK's Paxil ruled as the cause of Lyam Kilker being born with birth defects. In the Tobin case a jury found that Paxil was the proximate cause of Donald Schell taking a gun to family members, killing them, then killing himself.

GSK, don't, it appears, think so. They claim Healy, via the medium of his blog, has, in the past, claimed that “the pharmaceutical industry ‘rapes’ patients,” that he “compares GSK’s insistence on  statistically-significant findings to sexual abuse by Catholic priests,” and that GSK’s “widespread cover-up of adverse events dwarfs the Nazis’ cover-up of the Holocaust.” 

Here's the rebuttal of Dolin's attorneys.

Dr. Healy never stated that pharmaceutical companies “rape” patients, but specifically defined a concept that he calls “pharmaceutical rape culture” which he defines as a “concept that examines a culture in which harm from pharmaceutical products is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about  medicine and health care.” Dr. Healy specifically distinguishes pharmaceutical rape culture from actual rape, but draws cultural parallels to the way society reacts to the problem, i.e., blaming the victim. 

Similarly, Dr. Healy never compared GSK’s insistence on statistical significance to “sexual child abuse.”  Dr. Healy’s blog entry simply discusses how the Church’s use of Canon Law to disregard state and federal law parallels how pharmaceutical companies “actively attempt to over-ride the legal systems of the United States and other countries with claims that unless findings are demonstrated in controlled trials to a statistically significant extent that they simply aren’t happening.” 

Finally, GSK’s reference to the Holocaust is not only inaccurate, it is offensive.  Dr. Healy made a passing reference to the Nazis in his blog entry to illustrate the fact that pharmaceutical companies have actively sought to hide risks from patients and authorities using a myriad of methods.  The specific quote is: 

[Pharmaceutical companies] have taken astonishing steps to prevent decent reporting, or to denigrate reporting when it happens, and to manage the perception of risk rather than risks themselves.  If the Nazis had access to [their] bag of tricks, there would be real and widespread doubt that the Holocaust ever happened.  

At no time did Dr. Healy suggest or even insinuate pharmaceutical cover-up of adverse events “dwarfs the Nazi’s cover-up of the Holocaust.”  This sort of inflammatory and misleading...

--

Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think that King & Spalding paralegals and other staff have, seemingly, trawled through Healy's blog as a reporter for the National Enquirer would. The sole purpose is to dismiss his beliefs whilst trying to find cherry-picked sentences that they feel may incriminate him, and, furthermore, persuade a judge that Healy is some sort of crank.

For the record, the "pharmaceutical rape culture" reference was actually a blog post by another blogger.

Is it me, or does anyone else think these highly paid attorneys can't do their job properly?

Dolin's attorneys added that Healy "...discusses topical and controversial issues and he does so with poetic license."

GSK then, quite remarkably, decided to look into the phrase, "poetic license."

Weeks after the rebuttal of Dolin's legal team GSK then attached as an exhibit  a "true and correct copy of the online Oxford Dictionary definition of poetic-license."

Since when did GSK start using the Oxford Dictionary?

Here's part of a transcript from BBC Panorama. Journalist, Shelley Jofre was interviewing Glaxo spokesperson, Alistair Benbow. Ironically, the subject of definition came up.

BENBOW: Addiction is characterized by a number of different criteria which includes craving, which includes increasing the dose of drugs to get the same effect, and a number of other features and these are not exhibited by Seroxat.

JOFRE: That's not, with respect, what the Oxford English Dictionary says. It says addiction is having a compulsion to take a drug, the stopping of which produces withdrawal symptoms.

BENBOW: If you use that limited description of addictive then most prescription medicines could be defined as addictive.


So, on one hand the Oxford English Dictionary gives a true and correct definition, yet on the other hand the Oxford English Dictionary only gives a limited description!

Come on Glaxo, you can't have it both ways. If, as they claim, the dictionary (provided as an exhibit) gives a true and correct definition then Benbow telling Jofre that the same dictionary only gives limited descriptions was an actual lie... or was it just an opinion of Benbow, one that was radical and, dare I say it, biased.

GUN-TOTTING HEALY

One of the most ludicrous claims of GSK was that Healy, once again through the medium of his blog, suggested that "it would be reasonable for people who have lost loved ones due to alleged drug side effects to take violent revenge against pharmaceutical executives or editors of the New England Journal of Medicine."

Based on this one paragraph GSK accused Healy of inciting violence against GSK’s executives and medical journal editors.

(Insert laughter here)

(Change your underwear here)

As Dolin's attorneys put it, "Healy is expressing concern that discord is “brewing” and that absent action, there could be violence.  Dr. Healy expressly condemns such violence. "

As I said a the top of this post, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to reading court documents. Whilst reading through GSK's motions I've had Nescafe shoot down my nostrils, reached the point of apoplexy, so much so that I had to bite the arm of my chair, and, been to the bathroom to avoid any embarrassment of urinating myself.

Healy's deposition was supposed to be about science, in actual fact GSK's attorneys chose, for at least 90% of the 10 hours, to talk about Healy's blog, his financial accounts, and every other avenue that they could think of - rather than deal with the science.

If anything, these motions merely highlight the lengths GSK and their legal representation, King & Spalding, will go to as to avoid the Paxil/suicide link being, once again, publicly aired.

Other experts for Dolin have also come under fire from GSK. More mud-slinging, more cleverly crafted piles of poo.

Those King & Spalding offices, I believe, need fumigating.



Bob Fiddaman. (Using Benbow's poetic licence)



Source: Public Access to Court Documents (Pacer) 

Wendy Dolin is represented by Bijan Esfandiari, Michael Baum, Frances Phares and R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman PC

Study 329: The Final Chapter

"Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long." 

William Shakespeare - Merchant of Venice (1596)

Let's make no bones about it. Study 329 is, and always has been, a ghostwritten publication based on deception and intended to result in financial gain.

The putrid stench of deception has been obliterated, redesigned and is now a sweet smelling single rose, a small token gesture of truth for all those harmed by GlaxoSmithKline's fraudulent 329 study, of which there are many (children and adolescents)

Study 329 is, without doubt, the most infamous of all antidepressant studies. It reeks of deceit, of greed, of dishonesty, of financial kickbacks and has left a slimy trail of death and destruction in its wake.

I have, for my part, written and published many articles on this blog regarding 329. Three of which, Sally K. Laden, The Paxil Ghostwriter Part I, and Sally K. Laden, The Paxil Ghostwriter Part II - Emotional Lability, ending the trilogy in this series with, Sally K. Laden, The Paxil Ghostwriter Part III - Summation. being amongst the most popular.

329 highlights how one company saw a niche in the child depression market and, without due care and consideration, made unfavourable clinical trial results into favourable results.

329 is the spin of all spins, the retraction of which from The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), has been called for many times.

Now, a group of tenacious researchers have shone a very bright light on what 329 should have revealed. Their findings will be published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) next month.

Meantime, the Study 329 website has been launched and offers some interesting facts about the fraud behind GlaxoSmithKline's darkest hour.

The Restoring Study 329: Efficacy and harms of paroxetine and imipramine in the treatment of adolescent major depression: restoration of a randomised controlled trial, should shock all who care about integrity in drug safety.


Bob Fiddaman.

GSK Use Delay Tactics on Grieving Widow

Doncha just love this company?

Fined $3 billion for committing fraud in the USA, basically promoting drugs to physicians for uses in patients that should never have been prescribed those drugs in the first place.

Fined $490 million in China for bribing doctors to prescribe drugs to patients that should never have been prescribed those drugs in the first place.

Had lawyers representing them (when there really was no need to) at the inquest of 18 year-old Sara Carlin, who took her own life whilst on Paxil.

Ordered to pay compensation to the family of Lyam Kilker after a jury found that Paxil was the cause of his birth defects.

Ordered to pay compensation to the family of Donald Schell, a 60 year old man, living in Gillette, Wyoming, after a jury had found that Paxil had induced Schell's hypomania to such an extent that he killed his wife Rita, his daughter Deb and baby Alyssa and then turned the gun on himself.

Initially refused to pay Joanne Thomas, a mother from Pennsylvania, any form of compensation after she accused GSK of manufacturing a pill (Paxil) that caused birth defects in her fetus (Ryan) - they later went on to settle (Undisclosed fee) after Joanne's attorneys 'renegotiated' after two stories that broke exclusively on this blog (here and here)

Agree to pay over 800 birth defect cases where Paxil was blamed for causing a multitude of birth defects in babies and fetuses.

Agree to settle with over 3,000 claimants in the US who filed a class action lawsuit claiming that they became addicted to Paxil (source) yet refuse to settle a similar 'class action' case in the UK.

One would think that all of the above would be a major embarrassment for the British pharmaceutical giant and their American attorneys, King & Spalding. Think again.

Stewart Dolin killed himself in 2010 by jumping in front of a train in Chicago. His wife, Wendy, filed suit alleging that Paxil had caused her husband to develop akathisia, a condition that causes psychological agitation.

GSK argued that Dolin was taking the generic version of Paxil marketed and manufactured by Mylan, ergo they were not responsible for the drug inducing suicide. However, a  U.S. District Judge told Mylan that they would not have to face any trial but said Glaxo was responsible for the generic drug's design and warning label and would have to face negligence claims.

Bitter, Glaxo then went on to subpoena Wendy Dolin's cellphone and text message records, her home phone and her late husband's company phone. So far, GSK have sent more than 30 subpoenas and over 70 records requests, and shown the Dolin children their father's confidential therapy notes despite Wendy Dolin's objections. According to Wendy Dolin's motion GSK have also questioned her about romantic life since her husband's death. Quite why they have questioned her about her life after her husband's death is beyond me. It does, however, show how low GSK, and their multi-million dollar law firm that represent them, will stoop to defend yet another Paxil suicide.

If all this wasn't enough, GSK have now, it appears, twisted the knife further into the stomach of Wendy Dolin by attempting to push the trial’s start date into 2016.

Law 360 (Subscription) are reporting that GSK's attorneys, King & Spalding, have told an Illinois federal judge that they don't have time to prepare, this, despite the case being filed over four years ago. King & Spalding are claiming that they are working on two other cases and don't have time to prepare themselves for the Dolin case.

I can't quite get to grips with GSK's apparent disdain for Wendy Dolin nor the lack of respect they are clearly not showing regarding the memory of Stewart Dolin.

I've gone on record many times stating that I do not like GSK or their attorneys, King & Spalding. I do not like the way they operate nor do I like what they each try to suppress regarding items of discovery (You really do need to read the Joanne Thomas articles to see exactly what they try to suppress)

As for GSK trying to blame Mylan, well, that doesn't really surprise me. Mylan sold Paxil under a generic name and Glaxo conveniently forgot to tell them about warning potential patients that Paxil may cause suicide. It's akin to a car salesperson selling you a car and failing to mention that the brakes don't work!

A pretty decent analogy given that earlier this year it was revealed that General Motors Co.'s emails with King & Spalding LLP and other outside counsel show the automaker engaged in a "massive cover-up" to hide its deadly ignition switch defect. (Source)

Wendy Dolin is represented by Michael L. Baum, Bijan Esfandiari, Frances M. Phares and R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman PC and Joshua Weisberg and Lindsey Epstein of Rapoport Law Offices PC.

GSK is represented by Alan S. Gilbert and Melissa A. Economy of Dentons and Andrew T. Bayman, Todd P. Davis and Christopher R. Benson of King & Spalding LLP.

Bob Fiddaman.

King & Spalding US Attorneys in Ignition Switch Scandal

I said privately to many friends that it would take a lot to get me writing again on this blog. Anything that Glaxo do now or in the future won't shock or surprise me. They've done it all so nothing shocks me anymore about their behaviour.

For those that don't know, Glaxo have, in the main, been defended by US Attorney's King & Spalding. Paxil birth defect litigation, Paxil suicide litigation and Paxil withdrawal cases. In the legal circles one only has to mention King & Spalding and the Glaxo association is immediately made.

So, what can a bunch of US attorneys do to bring this old Brummie out of retirement. Well, judging by the media coverage, not a lot. In fact, since this story broke on the subscription based Law360, none, not one, of the major news outlets have reported on it. Don't you find that strange?

Oh, I almost forgot. Here's the background.

General Motors (GM) defended a lawsuit brought against them by the parents of 29 year-old Brooke Melton who was killed whilst driving her 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. Her parents had hired an engineering expert who found that it was an ignition switch flaw on the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt that Melton was driving. The lawsuit was settled and General Motors went on to recall 2.6 million vehicles.

The Melton's settled with GM in September 2013. GM recalled 2.6 million vehicles in 2014.

At first glance one would assume that GM were acting in good faith. Not so, apparently.

After settling with the Melton's, GM admitted that they knew about the flaw some 10 years prior to the recall. Hmm, now that's not playing ball, is it?

This startling revelation saw the Melton's file suit again in May 2014. They argued that GM should rescind their previous settlement ($5 million) because it mislead the Melton's about the total number of defects. GM had previously not acknowledged that Brooke Melton’s fatal crash was caused by the ignition switch defect.

Once again, GM settled with the Melton's for an undisclosed fee. They will retain the $5 million but will also receive a payout from the GM injury compensation fund.

So, where do King & Spalding come into it?

Well, earlier today the subscription based legal website, Law360, broke the news that not only did GM know about the flaw but attorneys representing them knew too.

Law360 writes...

"General Motors Co.'s emails with King & Spalding LLP and other outside counsel show the automaker engaged in a "massive cover-up" to hide its deadly ignition switch defect, the plaintiffs' attorney who unearthed the defect and documents said Monday."

The emails in question will now be used in federal MDL cases against GM. It is unknown whether or not these emails will ever be made public.

The article on Law360 can be accessed here.


You can follow King & Spalding on Twitter by clicking on the links below.

@kslaw
@kslawCorpGov

Related King & Spalding stories:

Ryan, Glaxo's Non-Viable Fetus - Part I

Ryan, Glaxo's Non-Viable Fetus - Part II - The Twists


Bob Fiddaman.

GSK Claim Phone Calls May Shed Light On Suicide

When someone dies as a direct result of a product purchased and ingested, one would expect those that manufactured the said product to be apologetic, nae mortified that they didn't see it coming. That is unless you belong to the circles of British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline.

Last month I wrote about the suicide case against GSK currently ongoing in the US. [1]

Wendy Dolin filed suit against Paxil makers GSK after her husband, Stewart, took his own life just 6 days after taking Paxil [paroxetine]

GSK argued that they never had a case to answer because Dolin wasn't taking their brand of paroxetine, he was taking a generic brand manufactured by Mylan.

A ruling earlier this year by Judge James B. Zagel allowed the suit to proceed on the grounds that GSK owed a duty to Dolin. GSK should have expected generics manufacturers, like Mylan, would make paroxetine once the Paxil patent expired, and, according to the ruling, GSK knew the companies would have to follow its label for the drug.

GSK's defence lawyers then subpoenaed Wendy Dolin's cellphone and text message records, her home phone and her late husband's company phone. GSK has so far sent more than 30 subpoenas and over 70 records requests, and shown the Dolin children Stewart Dolin's confidential therapy notes despite Wendy Dolin's objections.

Yesterday GSK defended their corner in requesting Dolin's phone records. They argued that they only sought those records to get a "fuller picture" about his mental health before his suicide.

Wendy Dolin had claimed that taking paroxetine had caused her husband to develop akathisia, a condition that causes psychological agitation.

GSK claim that Stewart Dolin's phone records may shed light on why he killed himself.

They already have something in their vaults that will shed light, namely paroxetine.

Watching this unfold is both comedic and tragic. Comedic because we all know what the outcome is going to be. A trial, a u-turn, a settlement...with a gagging order. Tragic because a grieving wife is being put through the mill by GlaxoSmithKline and their highly paid law team because they will defend their corner until every trick in the book has been used to defend Paxil. It's also a show of rabid fangs by GSK, they want to show others just how they will be treated if they dare try and come up against their mighty power.

Wendy Dolin is essentially being raped by GSK and their lawyers, that's my opinion.

Only time will tell if they get their way or if they dare to go the whole hog and defend the suicide drug Paxil.

Wendy Dolin is represented by Bijan Esfandiari, Michael L. Baum, Frances M. Phares and R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman PC, and Joshua Weisberg and Lindsey Epstein of Rapoport Law Offices PC.

GSK is represented by Alan S. Gilbert and Melissa A. Economy of Dentons, and Andrew T. Bayman, Todd P. Davis and Christopher R. Benson of King & Spalding LLP. Mylan is represented by Robert E. Haley of Swanson Martin & Bell LLP and Clem C. Trischler and Jason M. Reefer of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti LLP.

Bob Fiddaman.


[1] GSK Sink to New Level in Paxil Suicide Litigation

GSK Sink to New Level in Paxil Suicide Litigation

I despise lawyers who defend pharmaceutical companies. I despise their ethics and lack of compassion, nae humanity.

None more so than lawyers representing GlaxoSmithKline.

When I first read what I am about to divulge a fire erupted so violently inside me. How on earth could one human treat another human this way. Then I remembered that we are dealing with GlaxoSmithKline and a team of fat cat lawyers devoid of any conscience - hey that's my opinion of Alan S. Gilbert and Melissa A. Economy of Dentons; and Andrew T. Bayman, Todd P. Davis and Christopher R. Benson of King & Spalding LLP - if they don't like it then they can come and get me. [You hear me Todd?]

So, after taking a walk around the block, to calm me down somewhat, I find myself still reeling at the latest tactics of this corrupt company [I can say that because they are] and their hired defence lawyers.

It centres around a Paxil suicide case that GSK are trying their damnedest to not take responsibility for.

In June 2010 Stewart Dolin visited his family doctor who wrote him a prescription for Paxil for "work-related anxiety and depression".

Dolin's prescription was dispensed but he received the generic form, manufactured by Mylan.

Six days after beginning his course of the generic Paxil, Dolin left his office shortly after having returned from lunch with a business associate. He walked to a nearby Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line station at Washington and Dearborn in downtown Chicago. As a northbound train approached the station, Mr. Dolin leaped in front of it to his death. Blood tests taken with Mr. Dolin’s autopsy were positive for paroxetine.

Stewart's wife, Wendy, filed suit against GSK who argued that the drug ingested by her husband was a generic form made by Mylan.

A ruling earlier this year by Judge James B. Zagel allowed the suit to proceed on the grounds that GSK owed a duty to Dolin. GSK should have expected generics manufacturers, like Mylan, would make paroxetine once the Paxil patent expired, and, according to the ruling, GSK knew the companies would have to follow its label for the drug.

So, round One to the Dolin family.

With their tail between their legs GSK and their lawyers have now bared their claws to Stewart Dolin's grieving wife.

Law 360 are reporting that GSK's defence lawyers have subpoenaed Wendy Dolin's cellphone and text message records, her home phone and her late husband's company phone.

Last month GSK served a subpoena on AT&T Corp which requested text messages, billing records from Wendy and Stewart's phones.

Wendy has filed a motion stating that she had already complied with what she characterized as GSK's intrusive discovery requests, and accused GSK of excessive prying that would not end without the court's intervention.

Furthermore, Wendy has claimed in her motion that  "GSK has so far sent more than 30 subpoenas and over 70 records requests, and shown the Dolin children Stewart Dolin's confidential therapy notes despite Wendy Dolin's objections.

"GSK has also taken hours of deposition testimony from her and grilled her about her personal medical information and her romantic life since her husband's death, according to her motion."

Can you believe that a defence team would stoop to such a level?

End of the day Paxil can induce suicide in those that take it - see Tobin v SmithKline Beecham [Wrongful Death Suit]

Way I see it is that Glaxo have been spanked severely by a ruling. They expected another pharmaceutical company to face the heat because the drug was made by the other pharmaceutical company. What they failed to grasp is that they had a duty, both morally and ethically, to inform any pharmaceutical company making a generic version of paroxetine that it could induce suicide. Fact is, they didn't.

This isn't the first time Glaxo and their lawyers have shown a contempt for grief-stricken women who have been left to pick up the pieces of Paxil causing death.

Back in April I wrote a disturbing story about Joanne Thomas and her unborn fetus Ryan.

Joanne Thomas filed a Paxil birth defect lawsuit against GSK in 2006. GSK argued that she was out of time. [Statute of Limitations] The Judge and subsequent appeal panel agreed with GSK.

Joanne Thomas contacted me and for three months we both pieced together evidence that she was not out of time at all - back stories here and here. 

Armed with the evidence Joanne went back to her lawyers who negotiated with GSK's defence team, King & Spalding. A monetary offer was made to Joanne. It's unknown whether or not she accepted the paltry amount.

So, are GSK merely showing others here that if you decide to go up against their mighty name that they will try to drag you through the mud?

End of the day everyone is entitled to a defence team but the levels to which Glaxo's attorney's stoop is nothing short of mental abuse. Glaxo are making Wendy Dolin's life a complete misery. First they fail to warn about Paxil's potential to induce suicide then, when a suicide occurs they try to lay blame on another pharmaceutical company - when they are ruled to be wrong on that issue they target the person making the complaint.

Alan S. Gilbert and Melissa A. Economy of Dentons; and Andrew T. Bayman, Todd P. Davis and Christopher R. Benson of King & Spalding LLP, who represent GSK in the Dolin case - Shame on you all.

Wendy Dolin is represented by Bijan Esfandiari, Michael L. Baum, Frances M. Phares and R. Brent Wisner of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman PC; and Joshua Weisberg and Lindsey Epstein of Rapoport Law Offices PC.

I sincerely hope that they can, once again, kick GSK's ass.

Bob Fiddaman.