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| Tennesseans file Paxil
suit |
By Amanda Wardle,
awardle@nashvillecitypaper.com
June 04,
2003
|
Nearly 40
Tennesseans have filed suit against pharmaceutical giant
GlaxoSmithKline, charging the company did not properly
inform patients of potential addictive side effects of
the antidepressant drug Paxil.
The suit, filed
recently in Middle Tennessee’s U.S. District Court, asks
Federal District Court Judge Todd Campbell to award
damages of at least $1 million per plaintiff to
individuals who say they suffered adverse physical and
psychological effects akin to withdrawal symptoms when
they stopped using Paxil, but had not been previously
warned by the makers of the drug that such effects were
possible.
Legal documents state that
GlaxoSmithKline knowingly marketed Paxil in the United
States as a drug with “mild” side effects when they
actually knew that side effects could be severe. In
addition, the suit claims that the company intentionally
labeled what plaintiffs say can be acute withdrawal
symptoms as “discontinuation” symptoms, in order to
downplay the effects of the drug.
The suit is one
of several federal lawsuits that have been filed since
August 2001 in numerous states across the country
against GlaxoSmithKline charging that the European
company, which also markets such drugs as Advair,
Imitrex, Valtrex, Tums and Nicoderm CQ, did not include
in its list of potential side effects the possibility
that patients could suffer withdrawal symptoms such as
nausea, anxiety, dizziness, agitation, tremor,
palpitations and sleep disturbances after discontinuing
the drug.
Karen Barth, one of the lead members of
counsel in this and other suits across the country
regarding Paxil withdrawal, said nearly 10,000 people
from across the nation have contacted her Los Angeles
law firm reporting Paxil withdrawal problems since the
first suit was filed more than a year and a half
ago.
Paxil, a selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitor (SSRI) of the same class as Zoloft and Prozac,
was introduced as a prescription antidepressant
medication in late 2002. This most recent suit claims
that medical experts in the United States and Great
Britain have reported the potential withdrawal side
effects of the drug since nearly the month it hit the
market. Some experts have reported that adverse
withdrawal symptoms to Paxil were reported in 30 percent
to 40 percent of subjects tested, and were markedly
worse than withdrawal symptoms reported for Prozac or
Zoloft by as much as 4-to-1.
The suit claims
that the fact that Paxil was not administered with any
warning of potential withdrawal connotes false and
misleading advertising as well as irresponsible
marketing of a product on the part of GlaxoSmithKline,
who, attorneys say, did not even perform any internal,
ongoing studies into the potentially addictive side
effects of the drug.
GlaxoSmithKline has publicly
denied charges that Paxil may be addictive since the
filing of the first charges in 2001. Company
representatives did not return phone calls Tuesday by
press time.
The company’s Web site acknowledges
possible side effects that Paxil users might experience
while taking the drug, characterizing them as “mild to
moderate,” which include constipation, decreased
appetite, insomnia, nervousness and others.
GlaxoSmithKline reported multi-billion dollar
sales and net profits for 2002. |
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