Paxil Lawsuit related to withdrawal symptoms:

A class-action Paxil lawsuit has been filed against the giant British pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, on behalf of a group of individuals who feel that they have become addicted to the medication. This Paxil lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles, CA on August 24, 2001 and is the first of its kind, seeking damages for addiction against one of the drug companies manufacturing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI‘s), which includes other popular medications such as Prozac and Zoloft. Some have speculated that the filing of this Paxil lawsuit could be as big as the tobacco litigation. Within a week of the news of this lawsuit having been made to the general public, over 1,500 people called the offices of the Los Angeles law firm involved, telling them of similar negative experiences with Paxil. Paxil is known as Seroxat in Britain and Paxil in the US.

The original Paxil lawsuit involved 35 people who were prescribed Paxil/Seroxat for mild depression or anxiety, who claim that they were not told of its potential for addiction. The Paxil lawsuit has alleged that when they tried to stop the medication, they suffered violent and disturbing symptoms, including abdominal discomfort, flu symptoms, agitation, confusion, jolting pains in the head, vertigo and loss of coordination. Many stated that when their problems began to occur, they were incorrectly ascribed to other things by their physicians, who were unaware of the potential for addiction of this medication. Attorneys in the United States allege that all of the SSRI class of antidepressants have the potential to cause withdrawal reactions when people attempt to stop taking them, but have concluded that Paxil is probably the worst. Apparently Paxil (generic name of Paroxetine) is at the top of a list of medications receiving complaints to the World Health Organization, which records complaints from over 60 countries worldwide. It has been noted by experts that the high incidence of problems with people quitting Paxil is because it has a shorter half-life than most of the other SSRIs. That means that it is metabolized by the body faster than most medications, which incidentally, also makes it much clearer in identifying a cause-and-effect relationship with withdrawal symptoms when individuals begin quitting the medication.

Paxil/Seroxat may also be more problematic than some of the other SSRIs due to its popularity in treating various forms of depression and anxiety disorders. In addition to depression, it is now popularly prescribed for such anxiety disorders as obsessive compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder.

Paxil Lawsuit and the Manufacturer:

The Paxil lawsuit alleges that the manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, deliberately failed to warn patients and physicians that Paxil/Seroxat may cause severe withdrawal reactions. The lawsuit claims that the company has wrongly attributed the bad reactions to be related to relapse back into depression when people stop taking the drug. However, many individuals have claimed that these withdrawal symptoms now occur when they had not been present in the past, when they had relapsed into depression. GlaxoSmithKline insisted there is no problem with their drug. “There is absolutely no reliable scientific evidence that Paxil is addictive or leads to dependence,” said a spokesman for the company.

By Paul Susic MA Licensed Psychologist Ph.D Candidate