SSRI Birth Defects: Glaxo must pay $2.5M in Paxil case
GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. must pay $2.5 million to settle a
claim that its Paxil antidepressant caused severe heart defects in a
3-year-old Bensalem boy, a Philadelphia common pleas jury ruled
today.
The verdict is the first in 600 cases alleging that
London-based Glaxo knew Paxil caused birth defects and hid those risks to
boost profits.
The drug, approved for U.S. use in 1992, generated about $942
million in sales last year, 2.1 percent of Glaxo’s total
revenue.