Paxil Suicide Lawsuits

In short, by the end of 2006, a clear picture had emerged: Taking Paxil can cause older adults, as well as children and young adults, to experience dangerous Paxil or paroxetine side effects, including suicidal behavior. “Glaxo has known for two decades that Paxil can cause people of all ages to commit suicide. The company not only hid the risk, but stuck its head in the sand and ignored countless suicides that occurred in its clinical trials,” says Michael Baum, senior managing shareholder of Baum Hedlund, about the litigation.

All antidepressants, like Paxil and generic paroxetine, already carry a “black box” warning on the label, stating that these drugs can increase the risk of suicidal ideation and behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 24. However, by failing to provide accurate warnings about the risks and include those older than 25, GSK and its successor Apotex may have caused many people to attempt suicide or lose a loved one to suicide.

Can Paxil Really Cause Someone to Commit Suicide?

Because Paxil is prescribed to people diagnosed with a wide range of mental and emotional difficulties, including depression or anxiety, many have wondered how it is possible to blame drug defects for suicide attempts. People damaged by defective antidepressants – or those who have seen their loved ones commit suicide or harm themselves while taking antidepressants – might well think that “mental illness” was solely to blame.

Jurors in the Dolin trial no doubt considered the same possibility. Nevertheless, after five weeks of testimony from psychiatrists and experts in pharmacology, the jurors were convinced that the current body of research and medical science pertaining to antidepressants, Paxil, and suicide proved the drug was to blame. Generic Paxil—paroxetine—can cause someone over 24 to take his, or her, life.

Suicidal Behavior on Paroxetine: “Emotional Blunting” and Self-Harm

Another Paxil side effect known to increase the risk of suicide is emotional blunting. This is also a well-recognized side effect of drugs in Paxil’s class, one that others have referred to as apathy or emotional indifference. Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr. David Healy told the jurors in the Dolin trial that emotional blunting, combined with a painful condition called akathisia, can lead to a mental state in which an individual has thoughts of harming themselves or others, but is “numbed” to the consequences of their actions. Drugs in the Paxil class can also cause someone to “go psychotic, become delirious,” Dr. Healy explained.

According to Dr. Healy’s testimony during the Dolin trial, when SSRIs came onto the market, scientists noticed early on that those who harmed themselves while taking the drugs did so in particularly violent ways. During our research and investigation as leading litigators, we identified 22 individuals who committed suicide during the Paxil clinical trials. Sixteen of the suicides were violent in nature, including multiple suicides using firearms.

“One of the things that struck people fairly early on with the effects of these pills was that the nature, the way people harmed themselves, often seemed to be disproportionately violent,” said Healy.

Who Is Liable for Your Losses?

Of course, GSK is no longer solely responsible for Paxil suicide victims and their losses. In January of 2014, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the original developer and maker of Paxil, transferred full responsibility for Paxil to Apotex. Although Apotex did not create the drug, the company now manufactures Paxil and generic paroxetine, and thus Apotex is responsible for the content of the paroxetine label and advertising campaigns.

Just as GSK was brought to justice for failing to warn consumers about dangerous Paxil side effects, so should the current manufacturer Apotex, Canada’s largest drug company and one of the largest generic drug manufacturers in the world. The Canadian pharmaceutical company manufactures more than 300 different pharmaceuticals, including Paxil. Unfortunately, to this day, the Paxil/paroxetine label still fails to warn adults over age 24 of the increased risk of suicide—a risk that Apotex should know all too well. This is why on September 1, 2017, Baum Hedlund sent a letter to Apotex, the current manufacturer of Paxil and paroxetine, putting the company on notice that the Paxil label is inadequate.

Why Apotex Should Change the Generic Paxil Label

The current Paxil/paroxetine label is scientifically, ethically, and legally indefensible. The drug’s label does not warn physicians or consumers about the risk of suicide for adults over the age of 24.

​Instead, doctors and patients in their care are dangerously misled in two ways:

• They are led to believe the risk of suicide does not extend beyond age 24.
• They are led to believe known Paxil side effects are just symptoms of an alleged illness.
• All of this puts patients and doctors in a very dangerous position.

To challenge this unethical label, our attorneys at Baum Hedlund sent a letter to Apotex in 2017, requesting that the company take “swift action” to “remedy the deficiencies in the Paxil label,” so that it warns of the increased risk of adult suicidal behavior related to taking Paxil and paroxetine. Failure to act would send a message that Apotex is willing to sacrifice public safety in pursuit of its own financial gain.