Secrecy agreements in litigation hide information about defective products or a company’s negligence, and sometimes go so far as to prohibit the parties from discussing that there ever was a lawsuit. Such is the case with Paxil and as a result, unwitting patients continued to take the drug long after its dangers were known to GlaxoSmithKline.
Many lawsuits filed against Glaxo have been settled out of court, with confidential agreements that prevent the public from knowing about the harmful effects of the Paxil.
Previously sealed documents and internal company memos suppressed with protective orders, prove that Glaxo knew about the problems with Paxil before it received FDA approval, but continued to sell the drug for over a decade without warning consumers.
Long overdue legislation is currently pending in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate known as Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2005, which basically says that a court shall not enter an order restricting the disclosure of information obtained through discovery, an order approving a settlement agreement that would restrict the disclosure of such information, or an order restricting access to court records in a civil case
Glaxo currently faces thousands of lawsuits over Paxil side effects related to addiction, dependence, and a severe withdrawal syndrome.
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like Paxil, are not addictive in the sense that “an individual would mortgage their livelihoods and all they hold dear for further supplies of the drug,” according to Dr David Healy MD, FRCPsych, North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine
SSRIs can hook patients in the sense of making you “physically dependent,” he explains.
Dr Healy, is considered an expert on Paxil and has had access to confidential studies from the Glaxo archives. The common symptoms of withdrawal, he says, break down into two groups. The first group may be unlike anything you have had before, he warns, to include:
Dizziness Headache Muscle Spasms Tremor Electric Shock-like Sensations Other Strange Tingling or Painful Sensations Nausea, Diarrhoea, Flatulence Dreams, including Vivid Dreams Agitation
The second group overlaps with general nervousness, Dr Healy says, and may lead to you or your physician to think that all you have are features of your original problem. These symptoms include:
Depression Lability of Mood Irritability Agitation Confusion Fatigue/Malaise Flu-like Feelings Insomnia or Drowsiness Mood Swings Sweating Feelings of Unreality Feelings of being Hot or Cold
These symptoms appear in anywhere between 20% to 50% of patients taking SSRIs, Dr Healy says, sometimes within hours of the last dose.
In the class action case against Glaxo settled in 2005, In re: Paxil Products Liability Litigation, MDL No 1574, CD Calif, the plaintiffs were forever silenced by a strict confidentiality clause incorporated into the settlement agreement.
This author obtained a copy of the lawsuit’s complaint, dated August 23, 2001, as well as a copy of the settlement agreement with a secrecy clause that states in relevant part:
Plaintiffs and their attorneys, “will not make any statements, either directly or indirectly, by implication or innuendo, to anyone, including but not limited to consultants, experts, the press or media, concerning the amount or other terms of such settlement or settlements, or the nature and substance of settlement negotiations, or describing or characterizing the settlement in any way.”
Plaintiffs and their attorneys “will not, either directly or indirectly, publicize the fact of the settlement and that any inquiry into the settlement, its amount, meaning, interpretation or comparative value, or the negotiations leading to the settlement by anyone, including but not limited to the press or media, will be met only by a statement that the case has been resolved, and will decline any requests for interviews by the press or media regarding the settlement, its history or its terms.”
To relate my own experiences with SSRIs, which I've been taking for almost 6 years: I will say that Dr's have not warned me up front that there could be 'withdrawal symptoms' however it has ALWAYS been stated profusely that one should never quit cold turkey, as adverse effects could occur. Having to pay for the meds (zoloft at the time) myself, I at times ran out before I could get more and therefore experienced these symptoms. I went to the dr to get myself checked out. They then told me that what i was experiencing was 'withdrawal'-and no they don't call it that by name. The symptoms were quite odd and out of the norm for me, but never was it thought or suggested that i was 'relapsing' or that my meds should be increased, they knew from the get-go what the problem was. I got back on the zoloft, no more problems.
After taking the original for a few months, I am now on generic paxil which, in the literature, states that it has a 17-21 hour time period, as oppose to Zoloft's, which is closer to 22-28. Perhaps this is why more people feel the symptoms to a greater degree.
These medications change the chemical balance within your brain and body. Anyone on them should know this and therefore know that stopping them w/o proper supervision and too suddenly will no doubt make your body feel and react oddly. It is of course, the doctor's responsibility to inform the patient, but it is also the patient's responsibility to know what they are putting in their body and how it could affect them.
I am not saying that Glaxo and other companies like them are free from blame, hiding documented facts is knowingly harming the public and should not be tolerated. But to place sole blame the manufacturer is not going to fix anything. Even with information being suppressed, it is still possible to know what to expect from most any drug you're taking. Read the inserts, talk to your pharmicist, look up info online, read 'The Pill Book'. You'll get the gist of what could happen to you with the drugs you're on, learn what symptoms to look for, when to consult your doctor, etc.
It can take up a month or maybe longer for these drugs to fully affect you. The individuals that take these drugs are already unstable (remember I'm speaking of myself as well,so don't take offense), so it is possible that severe shifts in mood and mental capicity have already been occurring, whether anyone, even the individual knows it. If you have severe mood swings or become suicidal or homicidal while on SSRIs for only a very small period of time, it is possible that these behaviors were already possible, before you took these drugs and that the drugs are not solely to blame.
Just something to think about.
by
RH (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 10:12:38 AM
I do not agree, some of us were put on paxil for a single anxiety attack. I became suicidal coming off the drug and its been 5 yrs. My life has never been the same, No I don't just blame GSK, I blame the doctors for not knowing more about this drug, I blame the FDA for not making it harder to patent a drug this dangerous. Paxil has what is called a half life, which means it doesn't stay in your system but 23 hours unlike other ssri's which stay in your system alot longer. I don't advocate any antidepressants because I am scared of them. But I also blame myself for trusting doctors. I have heard and talked to alot of people who went through H--- on this drug. You would not believe the reasons for it was prescribed.
I wasn't suicidal before, I had a good life. But its nothing like it used to be.
Donna
by
dlem39 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 5:17:11 PM
I was given Paxil a number of years ago for depression associated with my mother's death. Within 48 hours, I was a shaking, nervous wreck, so riddled with anxiety, I couldn't perform ordinary tasks. Luckily, my doctor immediately told me to discontinue it and prescribed something else. My friend was not as fortunate. Her cousin was put on Paxil for depression. After two weeks, he repeatedly told his doctor that it was making him so anxious, he felt worse. His doctor told him to keep taking it. Two days later, he took a rifle into the woods and killed himself.
This is a bad drug, yet so many doctors still prescribe it. Must be all the perks they get from Glaxo.
by
Lynn Beckman (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 27 comments)
on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 11:31:49 PM
