The lawsuit claimed GlaxoSmithKline promoted the drugs while withholding negative information about the drugs' safety and effectiveness. Paxil is usually used to treat depression and anxiety for children and teens. Members of this class action lawsuit included all U.S. residents who bought Paxil for their children.

Consumers who have records of their purchases can get full refunds for their expenditures.
The objections to the settlement were withdrawn prior to the fairness hearing after modifications were made. Those modifications included: Consumers who do not have records can get $100; the $300,000 cap for undocumented claims was eliminated; and the $16.6 million for attorney fees will be distributed to attorneys who have also done work to benefit the class-action suit other than the plaintiff attorneys.

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Here’s a sample: Scott G. spoke of his father who killed himself 13 days after being prescribed Paxil. Deborah G. spoke of her husband and Scott's father, who loved life and whose suicide was completely unexpected. She shouted to committee members that antidepressant-induced suicides were nothing but a blood bath and mass murder.

The maker of the antidepressant Paxil has been hit with several new lawsuits, including two involving Ohio residents, that claim the drug caused heart defects with serious health consequences including death.

The lawsuit charges that use of the drug by pregnant women led to heart defects in their children. The suits also allege that the birth defects led to the deaths of three children and have seriously impaired the health of two others. The families are seeking unspecified damages from GlaxoSmithKline.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC has agreed to pay $63.8 million to settle a lawsuit's claims that it promoted its antidepressant drug Paxil for use by children and adolescents while withholding negative information about the medication's safety and effectiveness. (Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/01/business/NA_FIN_US_Paxil_Lawsuit_Settlement.php)

Healthcare professionals are advised to prescribe Effexor and Effexor XR in the smallest quantity of capsules consistent with good patient management. The reported overdoses of the world's most lucrative anti-depressant resulted in death or such symptoms as rapid heartbeat, coma, seizures, vomiting, and vertigo. (Reuters)

One study of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class of anti-depressants like Paxil suggests the drugs may increase the risk of severe violence and the other study indicates the drugs can have damaging effects on the environment.

Researchers would like big pharma coompany to share more data to help measure whether there are certain subpopulations that are vulnerable to violent behavior induced by these SSRI drugs like Paxil.The risk of severe violence is already noted on labeling, but has not been noted as a severe side effect.

Two-thirds of children and even more adults did not see a mental health specialist within a month of beginning any antidepressant drug treatment like Paxil, says a new study.

This is not "news". In fact, in 2004, the FDA recommended that new antidepressant users see a doctor once a week for the first month and three more times in the following two months. Because of restricted healthcare plans, this recommendation is not being followed. Also more than half of antidepressant prescriptions are written by family doctors not psychiatrists. The cost of healthcare simply does not allow for follow up care in the mental health field.

The letter described the results of a GlaxoSmithKline retrospective epidemiologic study of major congenital malformations in infants born to women taking antidepressants during the first trimester of pregnancy. This study of 3,481 pregnant women suggested an increase in the risk of overall major congenital malformations for paroxetine (generic for Paxil) as compared to other antidepressants. Healthcare professionals are advised to carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits of using paroxetine therapy in women during pregnancy and to discuss these findings as well as treatment alternatives with their patients.