We're going to ask GlaxoKline to set up centres all over the US,Murgatroyd said.

March 15, 2002

Dawn - this is the article that requests treatment centers - see below... Lynn

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Reuters

Glaxo Lawsuit Could Snowball

http://psychiatry.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2001/09/09.07/20010906legl001.html

LONDON (Reuters Health) Sept 06 - A major lawsuit launched in the US

against British drug giant GlaxoKline Plc is expected to escalate

dramatically, the Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday.

Lawyers involved in the class action on behalf of 35 people who have

allegedly suffered withdrawal reactions to antidepressant drug Paxil say

the action could become as big as the tobacco litigation that has raged for

years.

" We have had a heck of a response, " Skip Murgatroyd, an attorney from Baum,

Hedlund, Aristei, Guilford and Schiavo told the paper.

The lawyers said that since the action was filed on August 24, more than

1,500 people have contacted the Los Angeles law firm telling of similar

symptoms.

" It is unprecedented for us. Some of these people are in such bad shape

that they can't get off the drug without professional help. We're going to

ask GlaxoKline to set up centres all over the US to help them, "

Murgatroyd said.

Paxil was introduced to the United States in 1992 and is used for the

treatment of depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder and

social anxiety disorder. It is marketed in Britain under the name Seroxat.

Medawar of British watchdog organization Social Audit, which has

monitored antidepressant drugs for decades, told the paper: " I would think

the scale of the problem in the UK is comparable and I can't see a lawsuit

not happening here.

" It was obvious this was going to happen two to three years ago but the

Medicines Control Agency ã the regulators ã have done nothing to forestall

it. "

The lawsuit alleges that GlaxoKline deliberately failed to warn people

of the drug's addictive traits.

In June, the company was ordered to pay $6.4 million to the family of a US

man who shot his wife, daughter and grand-daughter before killing himself.

He had been taking Paxil, which is in the same class as Prozac.

It was the first time that a jury had decided that antidepressants can

cause some people to become violent or suicidal.

GlaxoKline has rejected the verdict and a spokesman confirmed to

Reuters the company is appealing the decision. The company denies that the

drug is addictive.

However, the labelling of the drug has recently been changed in Europe to

make clear to patients possible side-effects if they stop taking the drug.

March 15, 2002