Behind the Paxil Scandals

In June 2004 New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer brought suit against Glaxo, alleging that it had engaged in repeated and persistent fraud with respect to Paxil (a $3.1 billion grossing drug in 2003). Spitzer had evidence that the giant pharmaceutical corporation Glaxo had suppressed the results of studies on children and adolescents that showed Paxil to be ineffective and to increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior. When he first announced the suit, Spitzer stated, “By concealing critically important scientific studies on Paxil, GlaxoSmithKline impaired doctors’ ability to make the appropriate prescribing decision for their patients and may have jeopardized their health and safety.” Spitzer had an internal Glaxo memo from 1998 stating that the company intended to “manage the dissemination of the data in order to minimize any potential negative commercial impact.”
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