GlaxoSmithKline Settles Paxil Lawsuits

Portland, ORThe Wall Street Journal reported on 7/20/10 that GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to settle certain Paxil lawsuits. The lawsuits reportedly alleged that Paxil was responsible for birth defects in babies exposed to the antidepressant prior to birth. Although GlaxoSmithKline has acknowledged the settlements, it did not provide details about the financial aspects of the settlement.


According to an e-mail from GlaxoSmithKline, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the company "has reached an agreement to settle certain cases involving the use of Paxil during pregnancy. The details of those settlements are confidential. Other cases remain pending."

Earlier in July 2010, Bloomberg reported that GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle approximately 800 lawsuits that alleged that Paxil caused birth defects. The drugmaker has not commented on that report.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported on 7/19/10 that a settlement was reached in a lawsuit filed by a woman whose infant son died as a result of complications allegedly linked to Paxil. The plaintiff, Jennifer Berg, alleged she took Paxil while pregnant with her son, Nathan, who was born with a heart disorder on August 20, 2004. According to court documents, Nathan was transferred to a Minneapolis hospital, where he died 58 days later.

Nathan died of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN, formerly called Primary Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn). Babies born with the condition do not receive properly oxygenated blood. The lawsuit alleged that GlaxoSmithKline knew or should have known about the reports of PPHN in babies exposed to Paxil prior to birth. Berg sought unspecified damages from GlaxoSmithKline for failing to warn about the link between the medication and heart defects.

So far, no settlement documents have been filed in court, and the amount of the settlement has not been made public.

In October 2009 a Paxil birth defect lawsuit ended with the jury awarding $2.5 million to the plaintiff, who alleged that Paxil caused her young son's heart defects. The jury found that GlaxoSmithKline officials "negligently failed to warn" the mother's physician about the risk of birth defects.

In 2006, labels of antidepressants such as Paxil were updated to include a warning about the risk of PPHN.