Ethics Newsline®

NEW YORK
The State of New York last week sued British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline for allegedly concealing studies showing that its antidepressant drug Paxil might increase suicidal tendencies in children.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed the suit, accusing Glaxo of withholding studies that showed possible negative results of prescribing Paxil for adolescents.

Spitzer’s suit alleges that Glaxo conducted five studies on Paxil and kids, but released only one while hiding the other four because they indicated possible dangers, reported Bloomberg.

Starting in 1998, Glaxo “suppressed the negative results … which failed to demonstrate that Paxil is effective and which suggested a possible increased risk of suicidal thinking and acts” in depressed children, the suit charges.

Glaxo last week denied any wrongdoing, telling the Associated Press that the company “has acted responsibly in conducting the studies in pediatric patients and disseminating results.”

Spitzer is seeking to recover Glaxo’s profits for Paxil prescribed to children — a figure that totaled $55 million in 2002, according to their estimates — noted the AP.