Glaxo To Pay $1Billion To Settle Paxil Birth Defect Cases

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.

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