Jury Trials In 2008 Expected To Expose SSRI Maker's Dirty Secrets

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The labels also report that infants exposed in the womb have developed complications requiring prolonged hospitalization, respiratory support and tube feeding upon delivery. Reported clinical findings have included respiratory distress, cyanosis, apnea, seizures, temperature instability, feeding difficulty, vomiting, hypoglycemia, hypotonia, hypertonia, hyperreflexia, tremor, jitteriness, irritability and constant crying.

The labels note that these features are consistent with either a direct toxic effect or possibly a drug discontinuation syndrome and say it should be noted that, in some cases, the clinical picture is consistent with serotonin syndrome.

On December 8, 2005, the FDA issued a public health advisory to report that women who take Paxil in early pregnancy are at an approximately 2-fold increased risk of having an infant born with a cardiac defect compared to the general population.

Also cited on the labels is a study finding that infants exposed to SSRI's in late pregnancy showed a 6-times greater risk of developing the lung disorder known as persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a condition that, despite treatment, results in the death of approximately 10 to 20 percent of affected infants.

In December 2006, a Journal of Clinical Psychiatry study reported that about seven of every ten people who take antidepressants have impaired driving ability and that 16% have severe motor impairments after taking the drugs.

A short list of the adverse effects listed on the various SSRI labels as "frequent," and occurring on one or more occasions in at least 1 out of every 100 patients, includes light-headed feeling, appetite increased, increased weight, heartburn, abdominal cramp, gastroenteritis, allergy, pain in limb, fever, hot flushes, chest pain, lethargy, irritability, concentration impaired, abnormal dreams, sleep disorder, menstrual cramps, menstrual disorder, impotence, anorgasmia/orgasm abnormal, bronchitis, sinus congestion, coughing, migraine, sinus headache, vision blurred, urinary frequency and urinary tract infection.

Upcoming Jury Trials

Veteran trial lawyer, Ronald Goldman, who won one of the largest verdicts for the death of an unmarried person in Ohio state's history last year, is leading the Baum Hedlund team in the trials.

Glaxo has good reason to fear jury trials. The first Paxil-related suicide trial resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff. The case took place in Wyoming in May 2001 and involved a man, Donald Schell, who shot and killed his wife, daughter, and infant granddaughter before turning the gun on himself, after being on Paxil for only 2 days.

The instructions given to the jury required a finding that, "Paxil was a proximate cause of Donald Schell committing the homicides and suicide involved in this litigation" and that Glaxo's failure to test or to warn "was a proximate cause of the homicides and suicide in this litigation."

On June 6, 2001, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs and the Court entered a judgment against Glaxo for more $6 million. Glaxo filed an appeal and the parties settled out of court while the appeal was pending.

Baum Hedlund has litigated over 3,000 pharmaceutical cases in the past 18 years and the firm currently has approximately 30 SSRI suicide-related cases in litigation.

Baum Hedlund served on the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in the first suicide-related case involving Prozac and served as lead counsel for the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in Paxil Products Liability Litigation. The firm is also handling SSRI-related birth defect lawsuits.

Persons seeking legal advice regarding SSRI-antidepressants can contact the Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman Law Firm at: (800) 827-0087; http://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/

Evelyn Pringle
evelyn-pringle@sbcglobal.net

(Written as part of the SSRI Antidepressant Litigation Monthly Round-Up, Sponsored by Baum Hedlund's Pharmaceutical Antidepressant Litigation Department)

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