Posts Tagged ‘ GlaxoSmithKline ’

7 Game-Changing Settlements of 2009

December 15th, 2009. By Kristine B

We’re in the countdown to year-end and looking over some of the more impactful settlements LawyersAndSettlements.com has covered over the past year. When we’re talking impactful, everyone around here has an opinion—so we had to throw in some criteria. To get the nod for impact, a settlement had to be one of two things: 1. High dollar value; or 2. Precedent-setting—or at least have the potential to influence similar cases to follow. (Sounds siSettlement moves with impact in 2009mple, but you try getting Stephen, John, Jaime, Michelle and Ben to settle in on just 7 settlements with just those criteria…) So here we go…7 game-changing settlements for ‘09…

1) Family takes on GlaxoSmithKline  

Michelle David filed a lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline, alleging the company’s antidepressant, Paxil was responsible for her son’s birth defects. David said she had taken Paxil while pregnant and was not aware of the potential side effects. GlaxoSmithKline said that birth defects occur in between three and five percent of all live births, regardless of Paxil use. 

A jury found, in a 10-2 decision, that GlaxoSmithKline’s officials were negligent in failing to warn David’s doctor about the risks of Paxil. The jury also found that Paxil was a factual cause of the little boy’s heart problems. David was awarded $2.5 million.

Why it’s impactful:There are 600 or so lawsuits alleging Paxil caused birth defects waiting in

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Avandia and Alzheimer’s…What If?

September 24th, 2009. By LucyC

GSK tested Avandia for Alzheimer'sSo here’s an interesting twist. Avandia, also known as rosiglitazone, once GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) blockbuster diabetes drug that turned out to be not so good for you after all, has failed to prove benefit in clinical trials as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. 

Why was GSK testing Avandia in Alzheimer’s, you ask? Well, sales of Avandia plummeted after the now infamous Nissen study was published in 2007 showing a link between the diabetes medication and heart attacks. In fact, one source puts 2008 sales down by 40 percent from 2007. So, GSK was looking for a new indication that would generate some cash—up to $300 million one estimate suggests. 

So GSK must look for new ailments for Avandia. After all—product recycling applies to the pharmaceutical industry just as it does in other industries. 

But what if Avandia had proven beneficial in treating Alzheimer’s—whatever ‘beneficial’ was defined as being? It is unlikely that the risk for heart attack would have disappeared or not been an issue in this population. So I find myself wondering about the ethics of testing a drug with an established link to potentially fatal adverse events, such as heart attack, in a population that may not be able to articulate their health problems. Not only that, had Avandia made the grade, would the FDA have approved the indication, despite the health risks? 

Perhaps the most worrying element of all this is why Avandia is being tested at all for any additional indications, when there are very real concerns about it remaining on the market in the first place.

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Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

Rally in Denver for Ten Year Anniversary of Columbine

April 14th, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle

Ten years ago this month the violence and suicide caused by SSRI antidepressants gained international recognition in headlines all over the world when it became known that one of the teen shooters at the Columbine massacre, Eric Harris, had taken Zoloft in the past and was on Luvox at the time of the murder-suicide spree.

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Posted in Emerging Issues | 3 Comments »

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