GlaxoSmithKline has to pay for ignoring evidence that its antidepressant Paxil could cause birth defects. The evidence in the recent birth defect trial showed that Glaxo told its scientists to avoid disclosing possible risks associated with the drug’s use by pregnant women. The jury determined that the risks should have been disclosed, and that the evidence of an association between Paxil use in pregnancy and birth defects like heart malformations was important.
The jury rejected the arguments by Glaxoís counsel that there was no evidence that Paxil caused this babyís heart problems, and it awarded $2.5M in its verdict to take care of the baby. The evidence at trial showed that Glaxo knew before it put Paxil on the market that rats administered the drug had a higher death rate in their pups. Also, around the same time as the rat study in the 1980ís, one of Glaxoís own scientists warned his higher-ups that “there remains the possibility that this compound could be teratogenic,î a cause of birth defects, at higher dose levels. Teratology is the study of abnormal physiological development. The public had a right to know about the potential of teratogenic effects in this highly profitable drug.