Paxil Ordered to Pay $2.5 Million for Baby Birth Defects

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,566701,00.html

In the first of about 600 similar cases pending across the country, the anti-depressant Paxil was blamed for heart problems and other birth defects. The Philadelphia jury found GlaxoSmithKline guilty of negligence. The company vowed to appeal the decision.

From its introduction in 1992, until 2005, Paxil was classified as a drug with no known link to increased birth defects. In September 2005, the FDA began warning that Paxil may be associated with birth defects. It is argued that the company may have known about the adverse affects of the drug long before 2005.

The makers of Paxil stated, "Once approved for use, the company acted properly in marketing the medicine, including monitoring it's safety, updating pregnancy information in medicine's labeling as new information became available, and in communicating important safety information to regulatory agencies, the scientific community and the public".

Plaintiff's lawyers will continue to pursue punitive damages in the hundreds of remaining cases. The next one is set for trial in Philadelphia in November.