GSK made to pay over Seroxat

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has settled a suit in the US over claims that it fraudulently tried to delay competitors from making generic versions of Seroxat (Paxil).

The $14 million (?8 million) settlement in the anti-depressant drug case will be distributed to 49 US states.

GSK was accused of issuing frivolous US anti-patent lawsuits against makers of generics of Seroxat which kept costs high and automatically extended GSK’s patent.

Jay Nixon, Missouri attorney general, said: “GSK used the courts to hold onto a monopoly for a popular drug and the end result was that consumers – including Medicaid – paid more than they should have.”

Eliot Spitzer, who brought the case in New York, took action regarding Seroxat in 2004 over claims it made subjects suicidal, forcing GSK to publish clinical trial results of new drugs.

In the lawsuit, Medicaid, the US programme to give medical assistance to the poor, was said to have been forced to pay more than it should do to a lack of cheap competition.

By settling the action, GSK denied any wrongdoing and said they did so because it was cheaper than continued litigation.

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