• 09
  • May
    2011

GlaxoSmithKline, U.K.'s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, may soon be settling over 1,000 suits by patients who have been harmed from using the diabetes medication Avandia.

In the last eight months, Glaxo has agreed to pay at least $700 million in order to resolve roughly 12,000 lawsuits alleging they failed to warn patients and their doctors that the dangerous drug increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Glaxo announced last September that it would cease promoting Avandia globally, following a decision by regulators to withdraw the drug from the European market. Glaxo also announced it would be limited its U.S. sales.

Now, Glaxo may soon be a suit of 1,000 consolidated complaints in Pennsylvania, California, and Illinois. According to Dianne Nast, a plaintiff's attorney assisting in oversight of the cases, there are about 5,300 state-court cases currently pending alleging failure to warn.

So far, 2,400 Avandia claims have been settled in state court in Los Angeles, according Nast, and roughly 200 more are expected to soon settle in Philadelphia, as well as an undetermined amount in Illinois.

Sources said Glaxo announced in January that it would be setting aside 3.5 billion dollars to cover costs connected to investigations and suits concerning Avandia and the company's sales practices on other drugs. Glaxo has, overall, set aside over $6 billion for legal costs arising from Avandia, the antidepressant Paxil, and other drugs.

Studies have linked use of Avandia not only to increased risk for heart disease and stroke, but also to bone fractures, eye damage, and hepatitis.

Source: Bloomberg, "Glaxo May Settle 1,000 More Lawsuits Over Avandia, Patients' Lawyer Says," Jef Feeley, 5 May 2011.