Commonly-Prescribed Antidepressants Are Extremely Dangerous for Some, Leading to Suicide

Kahn Gauthier Swick is investigating possible legal action due to suicide, against GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Paxil (paroxetine), to recover for suicide or homicides--some completed, some only attempted--by patients in the first few days or weeks after they were prescribed Paxil. Paxil medication is in the same family, called SSRIs, for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Paxil is commonly prescribed for depression, and Paxil works by increasing the amount of a chemical called serotonin in the brain.

The actions against the maker of Paxil claim that the companies knew--but failed to warn physicians and patients--that a small number of patients will experience side effects that may lead to suicide such as a condition called akathisia, an overwhelming physical and mental restlessness, shortly after they begin taking Paxil. Other patients may, after beginning Paxil, find themselves suffering side effects such as being sufficiently energized to harm themselves or commit suicide, but not yet helped enough by Paxil to control their destructive suicide thoughts. Attorneys representing the suicide patients or their survivors in Paxil suicide lawsuits have discovered documents the companies hid--documents showing that these risks exist for Paxil and links to suicide.

Some of the patients who have suffered an akathisia reaction have been driven to horrible deeds such as suicide. Matthew Miller was a 13-year-old who committed suicide less than a week after starting to take Zoloft. Donald Schell, 60, took two Paxil tablets before experiencing hallucinations and then commiting suicide and homicide, shooting himself, his wife, their daughter, and their granddaughter to death on Feb. 13, 1998. On March 4, 1993, two weeks after starting to take Prozac, William Forsyth stabbed his wife 15 times as she lay in bed, and then leaned on the knife to commit suicide. Reginald Payne, 63, a teacher in Great Britain, suffocated his wife and threw himself off a cliff, commiting suicide in March 1996, after having taking Prozac for just 11 days.

Paxil, which was introduced into the U.S. market on December 29, 1992, is a well known antidepressant medication in the same class as Zoloft and Prozac (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs). Paxil is approved for marketing in the U.S. for conditions such as depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder.

If you would like to contact a lawyer about a Paxil suicide case, then fill out a claim form today.