YouTube Video Alerts Class Action Members - Paxil

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YouTube Video Alerts Class Action Members

By Tresa Baldas

The National Law Journal

July 18, 2007

http://www.law.com:80/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1184663198271 & rss=\

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You could call it a marriage of law and pop culture.

A group of lawyers recently took to YouTube -- the popular video Web site --

to announce a $48 million class action settlement involving the

antidepressant Paxil.

The 90-second video -- along with a virtual character known as the Dramatic

Chipmunk -- aims to alert potential class members about a settlement

stemming from a lawsuit alleging that Paxil was unlawfully marketed to

children. Hoorman v. Kline Beecham Corp., No. 04-L-715 (Madison Co.,

Ill., Cir. Ct.).

" As long as you're honest about something, why not also be funny, " said

attorney Wolfman of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group that

launched the YouTube Paxil announcement, which debuted on July 6.

" I just love the concept of it and I love the fact that we were able to do

something a little different, " Wolfman said. " If we have another tool to get

at a different generation of people, let's go for it. "

The YouTube class action notification scheme involved a seven-second video

dubbed the Paxil Chipmunk, in which a startled chipmunk appears while the

words sprawl below: " If you took Paxil, you could get $100 or more. "

A longer 90-second video shows a confused teenager wandering around

aimlessly, ending with an announcement that $48 million is sitting in a fund

for people who had bought their children Paxil and directs viewers to a Web

site telling them how to make a claim.

NO REGISTRY

Public Citizen did not litigate the case, but was involved in reaching the

final settlement in October. One of the problems with notification in this

case, Wolfman said, is that there is no way of knowing exactly who bought

the drug for their children. No such registry exists, he said. And privacy

laws prohibit that kind of information from being made available.

After some brainstorming at Public Citizen, the idea of notification via

YouTube came up.

Tillery of Korein Tillery in St. Louis, who represented the

plaintiffs in the Paxil litigation, said he's open to any concept that helps

get the word out about the settlement.

" If YouTube accomplishes that purpose, then so much the better. That's

great. I'm all in favor of getting the notice out in any means we can, "

Tillery said.

According to the terms of the settlement, any money left unclaimed goes back

to GlaxoKline PLC. Class members have until Aug. 31 to file a claim.

Dwight , an attorney at Atlanta's King & Spalding who represented

GlaxoKline in the Paxil litigation, said he had no problem with the

video, so long as it didn't imply any wrongdoing by his clients.

" This is a free country and they're certainly free to do something like

this, " said. But, he added, " if they're suggesting that this child [in

the video] is wandering around in a fog because they used Paxil, then we may

very well have something to say about that, because that's misleading. "

stressed that GlaxoKline has admitted no wrongdoing, and has

repeatedly denied claims that it marketed Paxil to children or hid dangerous

side effects. He said any prescriptions written for children were done so at

a doctor's discretion and that his clients never marketed the drug for

pediatric use.

said his clients ended up settling the case to avoid years of costly

litigation.