Paxil Lawyer
Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), the manufacturer of the anti-depressant drug, Paxil, was the target of a lawsuit filed in New York in June of 2004. The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, accuses GSK of not publicly acknowledging the fact the Paxil was ineffective in treating children and teenagers with depression symptoms. In fact, taking Paxil actually increased the incidence of suicidal thoughts or behavior. This is due to the active ingredients in Paxil causing a condition known as Akathisia, which means severe inner restlessness.
The 2004 lawsuit accuses GSK of intentionally not disclosing the risks associated with Paxil and of misrepresenting data to doctors responsible for prescribing Paxil to their patients. In the seven years since the lawsuit, GSK has completed clinical trials with children and adolescents which confirms that Paxil is largely ineffective in treating their depression symptoms.
If your child has been harmed by taking Paxil, there are several things you need to know. The first is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) never officially approved Paxil for use by children and adolescents, yet it was still prescribed to treat Major Depressive Disorder by physicians who believed it was safe. Evidence which surfaced after the lawsuit was filed in 2004 indicate that GSK knew about the dangers of Paxil causing Akathisia in children as early as 1998.
In addition to contributing to Akathisia, Paxil also caused a number of other disturbing side effects including, but not limited to allergies, body chills, abnormal fluid retention in the face and neck pain. Cardiovascular concerns are that Paxil can cause Bradycardia (an abnormal slowness of the heartbeat) and lowered blood pressure. Acne and gastrointestinal difficulties are common. Additionally, Paxil is associated with issues in the skeletal, nervous, respiratory and urogenital systems of the body.
When young patients discontinue the use of Paxil, the withdrawal symptoms they experience may be severe, including the increase in suicidal thoughts and behavior. Addiction to Paxil may have occurred during the course of treatment for depression, and some patients will have extreme difficulty with ending treatment in spite of known side effects.
A Public Health Advisory regarding Paxil was issued by the Food and Drug Administration in March of 2004, three months before New York's attorney general brought the lawsuit against GSK. This advisory prompted doctors to more closely monitor their patients who were being treated for depression with Paxil, especially at the onset of treatment or when a dose was increased or decreased, as this is when problems with Akathisia were known to occur.
Paxil lawyers are trained professionals who are knowledgeable about Paxil's use, side effects and the deliberate neglect of the Glaxo Smith Klein company to divulge its known risks to pediatric patients. Although GSK now prints warnings and precautions on Paxil labeling, this is of little comfort to patients who trusted the company and their own prescribing doctors to act in their best interests.
Unfortunately, this was not the case and some patients paid the ultimate price with lives ended by suicide. Other still have long-lasting effects that are more disturbing now than before they began treatment with Paxil. This is a terrible injustice and survivors of those lost to suicide or patients continuing to struggle deserve to be fairly represented by a Paxil lawyer who is sincerely motivated by justice for the victims of Glaxo Smith Klein.
