Lawsuits over antidepressants claim the drug is worse than the disease.Jeremy Lown, a South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. teenager, suffered from Tourette's syndrome Tou·rette's syndrome or Tou·rette syndrome n. A severe neurological disorder characterized by multiple facial and other body tics, usually beginning in childhood or adolescence and often accompanied by grunts and compulsive utterances, as of . To treat his uncontrollable tics and verbal outbursts, his neurologist prescribed the antidepressant antidepressant, any of a wide range of drugs used to treat psychic depression. They are given to elevate mood, counter suicidal thoughts, and increase the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Prozac. Three weeks after starting the medication, Jeremy hanged himself in the woods behind his house. Vicky Jo "Brynn" Hartman of California was given a sample pack of Zoloft by her child's doctor. She was not diagnosed with--or even evaluated for--clinical depression, anxiety attacks, or any other psychological disorder. She merely mentioned she needed a "pick-me-up" to help with stress. Soon after starting the medication, she shot her husband, comedian Phil Hartman, and then herself. Gary Piccirillo of Florida took Paxil for three years to treat bipolar disorder bipolar disorder, formerly manic-depressive disorder or manic-depression, severe mental disorder involving manic episodes that are usually accompanied by episodes of depression. . When he tried to stop taking the drug in 2000, he experienced severe withdrawal symptoms Withdrawal symptoms A group of physical or mental symptoms that may occur when a person suddenly stops using a drug to which he or she has become dependent. including dizziness, sweating, nightmares, hallucinations Hallucinations Definition Hallucinations are false or distorted sensory experiences that appear to be real perceptions. These sensory impressions are generated by the mind rather than by any external stimuli, and may be seen, heard, felt, and even , severe nausea, heart palpitations, and sensations like electric "zaps" and "jolts." He resumed the medication three weeks later, but continued to experience some of the symptoms. In 2001, he attempted suicide. Once considered wonder drugs, these antidepressants Antidepressants Medications prescribed to relieve major depression. Classes of antidepressants include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine/Prozac, sertraline/Zoloft), tricyclics (amitriptyline/ Elavil), MAOIs (phenelzine/Nardil), and heterocyclics have reportedly helped millions of people with depression and anxiety disorders Anxiety disorders A group of distinct psychiatric disorders characterized by marked emotional distress and social impairment, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. . Yet the drugs have had disastrous consequences for others. The manufacturers insist the drugs have only mild side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. and are non-habit-forming. Plaintiff attorneys across the country disagree, and they are working to debunk de·bunk tr.v. de·bunked, de·bunk·ing, de·bunks To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug. the drug makers' claims and obtain compensation for people allegedly harmed by the drugs. Claims have been filed across the country, charging that the drugs prompted users to behave violently. In 2001, a Wyoming jury awarded substantial damages to the relatives of Donald Schell, who killed his wife, daughter, granddaughter, and then himself while on Paxil. (Tobin v. GlaxoSmithKline, No. 00-CV-0025 (D. Wyo. June 6, 2001).) The suit filed by Jeremy Lown's family is scheduled for trial this month in South Carolina. Class action suits have been filed in California and in British Columbia, Canada, alleging that Paxil is addictive and leads to severe withdrawal symptoms. Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride flu·ox·e·tine hydrochloride n. An oral antidepressant chemically unrelated to other antidepressants. fluoxetine hydrochloride Prozac, Prozac Weekly, Prozit (UK), Sarafem Pharmacologic class: ), Zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride sertraline hydrochloride Lustral (UK), Zoloft Pharmacologic class: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) Therapeutic class: Antidepressant Pregnancy risk category C ), and Paxil (paroxetine hydrochloride Paroxetine hydrochloridePaxil; a SSRI that is used to treat mental depression, OCD, and various other disorders. Mentioned in: Antidepressant Drugs, SSRI paroxetine hydrochloride Paxil, Paxil CR, Seroxat (UK) ) are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Definition Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are medicines that relieve symptoms of depression. Purpose (SSRIs), medications that block serotonin--a neurotransmitter that controls mood--from being absorbed into brain cells. Leaving more serotonin in the gaps between cells, according to the makers' promotional material, allows more efficient transmission of electrical signals to the brain, which in turn increases the patient's feeling of well-being. Since Eli Lilly and Co.'s Prozac was first approved in 1987--Pfizer, Inc.'s Zoloft followed in 1991 and GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK GSK GlaxoSmithKline plc (pharmaceutical company) GSK Glycogen Synthase Kinase GSK Gruppentraining Sozialer Kompetenzen (Germany) GSK Greenland Shark (FAO fish species code) ) Paxil, in 1992--the manufacturers have aggressively marketed SSRIs as safe and effective treatments for depression and a variety of other ills. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) has approved the drugs to treat conditions such as panic attacks panic attacks, n.pl distressing episodes where an individual experiences palpitations, anxiety, apprehension, sweating, trembling, etc. Can last several minutes and recur unpredictably. , post-traumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental disorder that follows an occurrence of extreme psychological stress, such as that encountered in war or resulting from violence, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, or serious accident. , obsessive-compulsive disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder Definition Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a collection of physical and emotional symptoms that occurs 5 to 11 days before a woman's period begins, and goes away once menstruation starts. , bulimia bulimia: see eating disorders. , and social anxiety disorder so·cial anxiety disorder n. See social phobia. . Prozac has even been approved for children. By 1997, Prozac was the fifth-most-prescribed drug in the United States; Zoloft was 11th; and Paxil, 17th. Violence and suicide In 1990, one of the first public reports of Prozac's propensity to induce suicide appeared in an American Journal of Psychiarty article by two Harvard psychiatrists and a registered nurse. (Martin H. Teicher et al., Emergence of Intense Suicidal Preoccupation During Fluoxetine fluoxetine /flu·ox·e·tine/ (floo-ok´se-ten) a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used as the hydrochloride salt in the treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Treatment, 147 Am. J. Psychiatry 207 (1990).) One of the authors, Dr. Jonathan Cole, testified in a 2000 wrongful death case, "The SSRI SSRI selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. SSRI n. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; a class of drugs that inhibit the reuptake of serotonin in the central nervous system, used to treat depression and other drugs, as a class, clearly have the potential to cause, and in reasonable medical probability or certainty do cause, akathisia in some patients ... [which could] trigger or contribute to violent or suicidal behavior." Akathisia is a neurological phenomenon characterized by intense internal restlessness, agitation, aggression, and suicide attempts. Some patients describe it as wanting to "jump out of their skin." They have reported it as a side effect of Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. The makers have defended the drugs for over a decade by saying that most patients taking SSRIs suffer from clinical depression--and that depressed people can be suicidal. Now, though, plaintiff attorneys think that the companies' strategy--blaming the disease, not the drug--is unlikely to work in cases currently headed for trial. Attorney Arnold Vickery of Houston, who represents the Lown family in South Carolina, says he's noticed a changing pattern in his cases: "Most of them involve prescriptions by nonpsychiatrists for indications other than depression." Many of the patients in these cases did not suffer any form of mental illness, and yet they displayed the same suicidal tendencies as users who did. For example, a case Vickery recently settled in Pennsylvania involved a woman who slashed her wrists and overdosed on sleeping pills after taking Prozac, which her general practitioner prescribed for weight loss. (Cassidy v. Eli Lilly & Co., No. CA-00821 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 26, 2002).) Vickery has filed a case in Tennessee in which a man hanged himself after taking Prozac, which his cardiologist had prescribed for chest pain. And in Georgia, Vickery has a case in which a woman shot herself after taking the Prozac her family doctor had prescribed for migraines. "These are basically failure-to-warn, failure-to-test cases," said Vickery. "The drug makers have done nothing to alert doctors or patients that SSRI drugs, particularly in the first month, can trigger a suicide or homicide. "Plus, they just haven't studied the issue," he added. "They've stuck their heads in the sand on it." Significant verdict A turning point in the litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. was the long-awaited Wyoming verdict for relatives of Donald Schell. Vickery introduced evidence showing that studies requested by GSK found that hundreds of volunteers had suffered adverse reactions to Paxil, including attempted suicide. (Documents from Paxil Case May Aid Plaintiffs Harmed by Antidepressants, TRIAL, Sept. 2001, at 84.) "After the Wyoming verdict, lawyers started to think they could win these cases," said Bill Berke of Cape Coral, Florida Cape Coral is a city in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 102,286 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2006, the city had a population of 151,389. [1], making it the largest city in Southwest Florida. , chair of ATLA's Paxil Litigation Group. He represents Piccirillo. Bringing the potential dangers of these drugs to public attention is a major goal of SSRI litigation, plaintiff lawyers said. Vickery lost his first case, in Hawaii. That, he said, "was a heartbreaker heart·break·er n. 1. One that causes sorrow, grief, or disappointment: "one young and chaste, the other a dissolute heartbreaker of 48; one prim, the other passionate" . But ... we got out into the light of public scrutiny a bunch of internal documents about all these issues, so that everybody can know." For example, in 1986 clinical trials, researchers found suicide rates of 12.5 patients per 1,000 taking Prozac, compared with 3.8 patients taking a non-SSRI antidepressant and 2.5 patients taking a placebo. A 1995 study of suicides among British patients whose general practitioners prescribed antidepressants compared the rates of suicide for 10 drugs: Far more people killed themselves while on Prozac than on the others. The study found an annual rate of 187 suicides per 100,000 depressed patients taking Prozac, compared with 30 suicides per 100,000 depressed patients in general. David Healy, a psychiatrist and author of several books on the subject, conducted extensive research on internal company documents as an expert witness for plaintiffs in several cases. He found reports of healthy-volunteer studies by SmithKline (GSK's predecessor) in which 25 percent of volunteers suffered from agitation and other symptoms of akathisia while taking Paxil. Healy also found early drafts of Prozac's package insert that stated, "Mania and psychosis may be precipitated in susceptible patients by antidepressant therapy." The warning was not included in the final package insert for U.S sales. However, Germany's Bundes Gesundheit ge·sund·heit interj. Used to wish good health to a person who has just sneezed. [German, health, from Middle High German gesuntheit, from gesunt, healthy Amt (equivalent to the FDA) required that Eli Lilly include such a warning on its label for sales of the drug there, where it is called Fluctin. By 1999, the FDA had received reports of over 2,000 Prozac-associated suicides; 500 or more of the reports specifically referred to agitation and akathisia. Now, one plaintiff is asking a new question: Can a simple test show whether a person will react adversely to these drugs? The case Vickery filed in a Georgia federal court on behalf of a suicide victim's widower claims that Eli Lilly failed to publicize research showing that some people are "poor metabolizers" of Prozac. The plaintiff asserts that a simple test can detect deficiency of an enzyme that normally metabolizes Prozac and similar drugs. When the enzyme does not process the drug properly, the drug's active ingredient can build up in the patient's system, leading to a higher risk of akathisia, violence, and suicide. In a California case of a suicide allegedly induced by Zoloft, the FDA has filed an amicus brief arguing against the plaintiff's failure-to-warn claims. The agency said it would not have allowed Pfizer to put a warning about akathisia or suicide on the label--it would have considered that mislabeling mislabeling, n 1. the inaccurate identification of a product in which the label lists ingredients or components that are not actually included within the product. 2. . Paxil-withdrawal suits In addition to reports of violence and suicide, patients have begun to complain of severe withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop taking Paxil. Although GSK insists that the drug is non-habit-forming, some patients who quit taking it claim that they experience a range of side effects, such as flu-like symptoms or electric-shock sensations. Many physicians recommend stopping any antidepressant by gradually reducing the dose. However, Paxil breaks down more quickly than Prozac, a process that can lead to jarring reactions when a patient misses a single dose or tries to stop the drug too quickly. Some patients experience such symptoms even when on a cessation program monitored by a physician. The World Heath Organization says that, of any antidepressant, Paxil has the highest rate of adverse experiences during withdrawal. Healy's research into GSK's internal documents also found that in healthy-volunteer studies, as many as 85 percent of volunteers suffered agitation, bizarre dreams, and insomnia after stopping Paxil. As many as half showed symptoms of becoming physically dependent on the drug. Karen Barth, a Los Angeles attorney who has worked with Vickery on several cases, says her firm is now bringing both individual and class action suits related to Paxil withdrawal symptoms. "We kept getting contacted by individuals complaining of severe withdrawal problems," she said. In litigating cases that involved violence or suicide, "we had seen documents acknowledging a very serious concern about withdrawal related to Paxil. When we had hundreds of people telling us their story, and you start hearing the same story over and over again, you start saying, `Wow, we need to get some help for these people.'" Barth's firm has filed a suit with over 400 named plaintiffs in Mississippi, and a smaller one in California. It is also working with other trial lawyers on a class action, filed in Los Angeles federal court, claiming that GSK "deliberately or recklessly failed to properly warn" of "serious and unexpected withdrawal symptoms." The suit also claims that GSK "falsely stated and continues to falsely state that Paxil is not habit-forming [or] addictive" in its advertising material. (In re Paxil Litig., No. CV-01-07937 MRP (Material Requirements Planning) An information system that determines what assemblies must be built and what materials must be procured in order to build a unit of equipment by a certain date. (CWx) (C.D. Cal. filed Aug. 24, 2001).) The plaintiffs sought a court-ordered injunction against the print and TV advertisements. Judge Marianna Pfaelzer initially granted the preliminary injunction in August 2002, but she reversed her ruling when the FDA argued that it had reviewed and approved the ads. In January, the judge denied the plaintiffs' first motion for certification of a nationwide class, but she will allow them to refile. Barth said they will revise and refile this month, with a hearing expected in June. Concern about and cases involving Paxil are not confined to this country. A Canadian firm in North Vancouver has filed a class action in the Supreme Court of British Columbia The Supreme Court of British Columbia (SCBC) is the superior trial court for the Canadian province of British Columbia. The SCBC hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. with similar allegations. Attorney Ken Baxter said that in addition to recovering damages for the patients, the suit aims to have GSK "adequately inform the public of the serious nature of possible withdrawal symptoms." He expects a certification hearing by fall. Great Britain's Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, the pharmaceutical industry's self-regulatory board, found that GSK violated the board's marketing code by downplaying the side effects of Paxil (sold there as Seroxat). All three SSRI drugs are still on the market. As plaintiff attorneys pursue these cases, many see the issue as a puzzle. "This is a drug that's supposed to help people with depression," said Vickery. "It's paradoxical that there are some people, even if it's a small percentage, who experience the exact opposite effect." |
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