GlaxoSmithKline paid $1 billion in Paxil suits; reveals fees to US consultants

GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second-largest drugmaker, has paid nearly $1 billion to resolve law suits over Paxil (paroxetine) since it began selling the antidepressant in 1993, Bloomberg News reported, citing court records and people familiar with the cases.

That total does not include more than 600 claims that Paxil caused birth defects. In October, a jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas returned a verdict against GSK in a case alleging that Lyam Kilker was born with a rare heart defect as a result of his mother's use of Paxil during pregnancy. The company said it disagrees with the verdict and will appeal.

The $1 billion 'would be worse than many people are expecting,' said Navid Malik, an analyst at Matrix Corporate Capital in London quoted by Bloomberg, adding: 'I don't think this is within the boundaries of current assumptions for
analysts.'

GSK has made public some accords. Its provision for legal and other non-tax disputes as of the end of 2008 was £1.9 billion ($3.09 billion), according to its latest annual report. This included all legal matters, not just Paxil, Bloomberg noted.

GSK's $15m fees data go on-line

Meantime, writes Andrew jack in the UK's Financial Times, GSK has paid close to $15 million in speaking and consulting fees to US doctors in the second quarter of this year, 'revealing the scale of commercial links to influential prescribers.'

The details are published on the drugmakers web site, as pressure intensifies for the industry to highlight substantial support to doctors, whose authority can help prescription sales. Different draft US health care bills threaten to make disclosures compulsory, the FT notes.

The average per recipient was $3,909 for the three months to June 30. GSK's cumulative payments are less than the 3,300 members of the 'faculty register' collectively paid $3 million in the first quarter by Eli Lilly, which became the first company to list such fees this year.