Drug giant faces huge law suit: 'Prozac miracle' could end in disaster
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday September 6, 2001
The Guardian
A major lawsuit has been launched against the British pharmaceutical giant
GlaxoSmithKline on behalf of a group of people who say they became
chronically addicted to an antidepressant drug in the same class as Prozac.
The case, which has been filed in California, is the first ever to claim
damages for addiction against one of the drug companies that have made
billions from SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) - the class
of drug of which Prozac is the best known - and which were hailed as
"wonderdrugs" when they first hit the market in the 1980s.
The drug is known as Seroxat in Britain and Paxil in the US. There are 35
people in the class action at the moment - from a website designer to a
bank fraud investigator and a senior airforce officer - but many more are
expected to join it. All were prescribed Paxil/Seroxat for mild depression
or anxiety and none was told they might become hooked.
When they tried to stop taking it, they suffered violent and disturbing
symptoms, including jolting pains in the head, vertigo, loss of
coordination, abdominal discomfort, flu symptoms, agitation and confusion.
The lawyers involved say the action could be as big as tobacco litigation.
Since news of the SSRI action emerged in the US a week ago, over 1,500
people have called the offices of the Los Angeles law firm involved
telling of similar experiences. Some have been seriously distressed.
Many say their problems were wrongly ascribed to other things by doctors
who are unaware of the potential for addiction of the drug. One had a
pacemaker fitted, which has since been removed, some were given electric
shock therapy and some thought they had brain tumours.
"We have had a heck of a response," said Skip Murgatroyd, the attorney
from Baum, Hedlund, Aristei, Guilford and Schiavo, leading the case. "It
is unprecedented for us. Some of these people are in such bad shape that
they can't get off the drug without professional help. Some have been on
it for 10 years.
"We're going to ask GlaxoSmithKline to set up centres all over the US to
help them." Hundreds of thousands are believed to be suffering.
Concern over the potential for addiction of the SSRIs has been growing in
recent years. Charles Medawar of the UK watchdog organisation Social Audit
said: "I would think that the scale of the problem in the UK is comparable
and I can't see a lawsuit not happening here. I think people are extremely
angry. It was obvious this was going to happen two to three years ago, but
the Medicines Control Agency - the regulators - have done nothing to
forestall it."
The lawsuit alleges that the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, has
deliberately failed to warn doctors and patients that Paxil/Seroxat can
cause severe withdrawal reactions. It says that the company has wrongly
claimed the bad reactions are caused by a relapse into depression when
people stop the drug, yet some people experience symptoms when they stop
taking the drug which they did not have before they first took it.
The US lawyers allege that all the SSRI class of antidepressants have the
potential to cause withdrawal reactions when people try to stop taking
them, but that Paxil/Seroxat is the worst. The drug, which has the generic
name of paroxetine, is at the top of a league table produced by the World
Health Organisation which records complaints from 60 countries of bad
reactions to medicines.
Venlafaxine, which has the brand name Effexor, is second. A British man,
Steve Whiting, secured legal aid to bring a case over addiction to Effexor
in this country against its manufacturer, Wyeth-Ayerst. Prozac
(fluoxetine) is in seventh place.
One of the reasons that Paxil/Seroxat causes so many problems, said Mr
Medawar, is that it is as widely used - if not more widely - than Prozac.
It is prescribed not just for mild depression but for a range of anxiety
and mood disorders, such as obsessive compulsive disorder and "social
anxiety disorder" - for people who feel panicky at the thought of mixing
at parties.
But crucially, he said, the problems show up when people try to stop
taking Paxil/Seroxat because it has a shorter half-life than most of the
other SSRIs. That means it clears the body faster and so it is more
obvious that fatigue and pains are related to quitting the drug. With
SSRIs that linger in the system for longer, by the time the symptoms
appear it may seem that depression has set in again - and so the doctor's
answer is another SSRI prescription.
GlaxoSmithKline insists there is no problem with its drug. "There is
absolutely no reliable scientific evidence that Paxil is addictive or
leads to dependence," said a spokesman.
He added: "As far as we're concerned, all of the regulatory bodies are
quite happy with the product."
But Social Audit, which has monitored antidepressant drugs for decades,
sees history repeating itself. Morphine was used for years to treat opium
addiction. Barbiturates, found to be horribly addictive, were replaced by
the benzodiazepines - such as Librium, Valium and Mogadon - which were
liberally prescribed as safer and non-addictive. Then came Ativan, which
like Paxil/Seroxat had a short half-life, and the symptoms of
benzodiazepine dependence became clear.
The SSRIs have largely taken their place, but according to Mr Medawar,
little has changed.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001