Drugs To Blame For Deadly Shooting Spree

According to an article on ABC News, a Jury has ordered the manufacturer of Paxil, the nation’s second-best-selling anti-depressant, to pay $8 million to relatives of a man who killed himself and three others after taking the drug.

Paxil is made by SmithKline Beecham and the $8 million award damages were the result of a wrongful death civil suit. According to the article, “the jury concluded that Paxil could cause someone to commit suicide or homicide and that the drug was in fact a proximate cause of the deaths.”

Paxil is primarily used to treat “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” (GAD). How do you like that for a diagnosis? The good news (according to them) is that it’s treatable.

Another article suggests that the makers of Paxil will be contesting the award. Interestingly, the same article mentions the case of a man who killed eight co-workers and himself with an AK-47 assault rifle in 1989 a few weeks after starting on Prozac. According to that article, the makers of Prozac reached a secret settlement with survivors and the company was found not responsible. (guess what the nation’s best-selling anti-depressant is)

Here are some links…
ABC News: Paxil Maker Ordered to Pay $8 Million
ABC News: Glaxo to Contest $6.4 Million Paxil Jury Award