Paxil Suicide Risks

Paxil, specifically regarding the risk for paxil suicide behavior amongst youth, is shedding light on the veracity of a well-known Paxil study. In 2001 "Study 329" led to the antidepressant being prescribed to millions of adolescents. And for more than a decade, reported paxil side effects have resulted in paxil violence lawsuits and paxil suicide death lawsuits. Investigators recently concluded (September 2015) that Study 329 was seriously flawed.

Writing in The Atlantic, David Dobbs said the re-examination of Study 329 shows how GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the manufacturer of the drug, skewed clinical trials (it underwrote the study) and misinterpreted data to show that a dangerous drug looked good. "Virtually everyone involved in producing Study 329 has either declined to comment or insisted the original study is sound," reported Dobbs.

According to The Washington Post (September 16, 2015), researchers investigating this recent analysis, which was published in The British Medical Journal, concluded that paroxetine, marketed as Paxil by GSK, was no more effective than a placebo and considerably more dangerous than the original study indicated. The researchers examined 77 ,000 pages of previously unavailable documents in Study 329, which was originally published in 2001. By 2002, over 2 million Paxil prescriptions were written for children and teens, and many more for adults. Experts speculated that psychiatrists may have prescribed Paxil after reading Study 329.

Sadly, it is impossible to know how many individuals committed suicide as a result of taking Paxil, but thousands of Paxil lawsuits, many of which allege paxil suicide, have been filed against GSK.

Paxil is in a class of antidepressant drugs known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) , patterned after Prozac (fluoxetine). The class also includes Celexa, Lexapro, Luvox, and Zoloft. These four drugs and two other non-SSRI antidepressants, Serzone and Remeron, have been linked with suicidal and/or violent behaviors, especially in children.

In the US, use of these antidepressants for patients under 18 years has not been approved by FDA, with the exception of Prozac. This means that both the healthcare professional who prescribes or dispenses these drugs for children and adolescents, and the pharmaceutical company that promotes this "off-label" (unapproved) use, knowingly take a risk with the patient's safety.

Since 1991, just three years after Prozac was introduced, claims have been made that antidepressants have been associated with suicidal behavior and suicide death. But drug makers and regulators dismissed such claims on the grounds that they were only anecdotal reports without any basis in rigorous clinical trials.

In 2003, the FDA recommended Paxil not be given to teens at all.

In late 2004, the FDA ordered makers of SSRIS to include a Black Box warning on all SSRIs, specifically mentioning the risk for suicidal behavior among youth using them. This warning was expanded in 2007 to include people 25 years of age and under. In 2012 GSK was fined $3 billion for illegally marketing Paxil, among other drugs.

SSRIs have become famous for their alleged ability to induce children to violence and suicide in such high profile cases as that of Christopher Pittman who ran away from his home in Florida to his grandparents in South Carolina at age 12. He was convicted of killing his grandparents and burning down their house after being treated with Paxil followed by Zoloft.

SSRI antidepressants have been implicated in a number of school shootings. According to CCHR International, The Mental Health Watchdog, at least 35 school shootings and/or school-related acts of violence have been committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. These incidents resulted in 169 wounded and 79 killed (in other school shootings, information about their drug use was never made public—neither confirming or refuting if they were under the influence of prescribed drugs). The following incidents--where psychiatric drug use was made public--are taken from the CCHR list.

November 2014: In Tallahasee, Florida, 31-year-old Myron May opened fire in the school' library, wounding three before he was shot and killed by police. May had been prescribed the antidepressant Wellbutrin and the ADHD drug Vyvanse. Shortly after checking into a mental health center in September 2014, his friends discovered the antipsychotic Seroquel among his prescriptions.

June 2014: 26-year-old Aaron Ybarra killed one student and wounded two others with a shotgun at Seattle Pacific University. In 2012 he was prescribed Prozac and Risperdal.

April 2014: In Milford, Connecticut, 16-year-old Chris Plaskon stabbed Maren Sanchez, also 16, to death in a stairwell at Jonathan Law High School after she turned down his prom invitation. According to classmates and a former close friend, Chris was taking drugs for ADHD.

October 2013 12-year-old Jose Reyes opened fire at Sparks Middle School in Nevada, killing a teacher and wounding two classmates before committing suicide. The investigation revealed that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and had a generic version of Prozac (fluoxetine) in his system at the time of death.

2010: A Paxil Suicide Lawsuit claiming 23-year-old Trisha Mason killed herself two days after taking Paxil was allowed to proceed.

2004-2007 Attorneys have been litigating consumer fraud class action lawsuits against GSK on behalf of individuals and entities (i.e.,insurance companies, state medical welfare agencies) since 2004.

For instance, the law firm Baum Hedlund represented a number of cases based on internal GSK documents. These documents show that GSK falsely promoted Paxil as an effective medication for children and adolescents despite internal communications acknowledging that Paxil' pediatric depression clinical trials failed to out-perform sugar pills (placebo) , yet had higher suicidality rates than sugar pills. GSK promoted Paxil as being "remarkably safe and effective"for depressed children.

In April 2007 a settlement was reached: GSK agreed to reimburse parents for all of the money they paid for their children' Paxil prescriptions.

2004 GSK agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with the State of New York, which accused the company of "persistent fraud"in suppressing research on Paxil and suicidal thoughts and actions in children.

2007 Consumer watchdog Public Citizen secured a $63.8 million class action lawsuit settlement claiming GSK had misled parents by failing to warn that Paxil was dangerous and ineffective when taken by children younger than 18.

2008 GSK agreed to settle another class action settlement for $40 million. The lawsuit claimed that the medication was ineffective and increased suicidal thoughts and actions in children. The money was distributed to health insurance companies that paid for the drug.

2001 A federal jury in Wyoming awarded $6.5 million to relatives of Donald Schell, who shot and killed his wife, daughter, granddaughter, and himself after taking Paxil for two days. Coincidentally, Study 329 was published in 2001.

• Failure to warn about health risks
• Negligence in conducting clinical trials to determine drug safety
• Breach of warranties
• Wrongful death
• Fraud
• Defective manufacturing and design
• Strict liability

Paxil suicide and suicide attempt lawsuits allege GSK was aware of the risk and yet chose not to warn the public of this serious risk. Instead, the lawsuits allege GSK overly promoted the benefits of the drug while downplaying the risks. In 2002 alone more than 2 million prescriptions for Paxil to treat mood disorders in children and adolescents brought in $55 million for GSK. Of those 2 million individuals, 900,000 prescriptions were written for young people whose primary diagnosis was a mood disorder, such as depression.

The new analysis published in BMJ has already "sparked outrage among former patients and set off a tsunami of criticism of GlaxoSmithKline", according to the International Business Times.

Paxil Suicide Legal Help

If you or a loved one has suffered from increased violence or suicide attempts, you may qualify for damages or remedies that may be awarded in a possible lawsuit. Please click the link below to submit your complaint to a lawyer who will review your Paxil complaint at no charge or obligation.
Last updated on Jan-30-16