Pharmalot
By Ed Silverman
July 21, 2010
In an effort to get its arms around massive litigation, GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to settle yet another wad of product-liability lawsuits involving one of its popular meds. The latest deal involves an agreement to pay more than $1 billion to settle some 800 cases alleging its Paxil antidepressant caused birth defects in children borne to women who took the drug, Bloomberg News writes.
The move comes after a Pennsylvania state court jury last October awarded a woman $2.5 million in damages for failing to properly warn docs and pregnant women about the risks of the antidepressant. This case, which was filed by the family of a three-year-old boy who was born with heart defects his mother blamed on the drug. It was the first of 600 such lawsuits and was seen as a test of Glaxo’s vulnerability (background).
Last week, Glaxo disclosed plans to take a $2.4 billion charge in its second quarter to settle product-liability lawsuits over its Avandia diabetes pill, litigation involving the Paxil antidepressant and a US government investigation into its manufacturing site at Cidra, Puerto Rico.
The Paxil deal, which would provide an average payout of more than $1.2 million to families of the affected children, leaves more than 100 similar cases pending. The birth-defect settlements bring to more than $2 billion the amount Glaxo has agreed to pay to resolve a variety of Paxil-related suits, including claims the pill caused suicides or attempted suicides and addiction problems, Bloomberg writes.
Read the entire article here: http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/07/glaxo-to-pay-1b-to-settle-paxil-birth-defect-cases/
See all international studies/warnings on Paxil: http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers/drug_warnings.php
See what doctors, pharmacists, health care providers and others have reported to the US FDA on Paxil side effects (such as birth defects): http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers/medwatch_psych_drug_adverse_reactions.php
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