• 01
  • February
    2011

London-based GlaxoSmithKline, U.K.'s largest pharmaceutical, announced yesterday that it has settled a lawsuit involving its diabetes medication Avandia and a North Carolina man who died of a heart attack.

The 49-year-old man reportedly took Avandia for 15 months for treatment of diabetes before he died of a heart attack in his home. Attorneys for Glaxo argue that diabetics are already at an increased risk for heart attack regardless of what medications they are taking. They argue that there is no definitive link between the drug and the man's heart of attack.

But lawyers for the deceased man point to studies concluding that the drug increased risks of heart attacks and strokes, and that despite the studies Glaxo refused to take the dangerous drug off the market.

The suit was set for trial this week in Philadelphia federal court, but concerns over "substantial punitive damages" led the company to settle the case. The case was brought by two plaintiff's attorneys selected by U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe in Philadelphia to represent a group of over 1,600 consolidated cases.

Roughly 2,000 similar suits have already been filed alleging that Glaxo covered up health risks associated with the drug. The diabetes medication was withdrawn from the European market last September and U.S. regulators limited sales because of the risks of heart attack. Glaxco agreed to stop marketing the drug after that, and paid out roughly $460 million to settle around 10,000 suits alleging an information cover-up.

At least nine Glaxo drugs have been targeted by federal prosecutor probes over concerns about the way they were marketed. Prosecutors have been investigating whether Glaxo promoted the drugs for unapproved uses.

The pharmaceutical company is now setting aside $3.5 billion to cover expenses related to the investigations and suits over Avandia. Over the past year, the company has set aside a total of $6.4 billion to deal with legal costs connected to the drug.

Glaxo's settlement in this heart attack death case was

Source: Bloomberg, "Glaxo Suit on Avandia Heat Attack Death Settled on Trial's Eve," Jef Feeley, 31 Jan 2011.