GSK Marketed Paxil Heavily to Pregnant Women Though It Causes Birth Defects

This isn't a diabetes story, but I am writing about it because the manufacturer involved in this case, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is the same company that sells and promotes Avandia and Avandamet to people with diabetes. The behavior of GSK in the way it is promoting blockbuster profit maker Paxil is very similar to what we saw with Avandia: complete disregard for the damage the company's drug caused patients.

You can read an excellent discussion of the problems with Paxil in this story published in today's Guardian. It's important to note that these stories appear in a British publication, not a US publication. The reason may have something to do with the fact that US print publications rely heavily on drug company advertising which is illegal in the UK.

Antidepressants once seen as miracle drugs: now risks are becoming evident US courts to hear claims that insufficient attention was paid to dangers to foetus.

What is most disturbing here is that the company specifically marketed Paxil, an SSRI which is notoriously difficult to quit, to pregnant women and women of childbearing age, even when there was growing evidence that the drug caused severe withdrawal symptoms in newborns and possibly was causing heart defects.

Even now the company spokesmen continue to downplay the dangers.

This is the same company that used threats of lawsuits to silence those who attempted to inform the public of the heart-attack potential of Avandia. While intelligent people can debate the facts about Avandia's link to heart attack, the heavy handed Mafia-like tactics the company employed to prevent that discourse from taking place speaks far louder than any research study about what the company really knew about Avandia's side effect profile.

If you are taking any SSRI and are thinking about becoming pregnant or have friends or relatives in that situation, you need to read this article and get the word out about what SSRIs may do to a baby. These drugs can be extremely difficult to stop (which in my youth was the definition of "addictive drug"--a definition which the SSRI manufacturers have managed to change). So women on these drugs should get their doctor's help to detox months before becoming pregnant.

And the rest of us have one more reason to distrust drug companies who prove month in and month out that they are willing to boost profits even if it means ruining the lives of innocent men, women, and now it appears, children.