The Internet is abuzz over a news report to be aired this evening on the BBC, alleging that the manufacturer of Paxil (it’s called Seroxat over there) deliberately concealed and distorted safety and effectiveness info about its antidepressant, which has been linked to suicidal behavior.

The program cites internal e-mails that emerged from litigation in the U.S. against GlaxoSmithKline, which allegedly used a ghostwriter for a study that was published in 2001 in a prominent medical journal on child and adolescent psychiatry.

One e-mail contains a message from a public relations exec to a company exec: “Originally we had planned to do extensive media relations surrounding this study until we actually viewed the results. Essentially, the study did not really show it was effective in treating adolescent depression, which is not something we want to publicize.”

Another e-mail written by a company exec raises safety issues: “It seems incongruous that we state that paroxetine is safe, yet report so many SAEs (serious adverse events). Copies of the e-mails were provided to Pharmalot.com.

This same study has previously caused trouble for Glaxo, which was charged by the New York State attorney general two years ago with concealing negative results. A Glaxo spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail that safety and effectiveness info was fully discussed in the journal, but didn’t deny it was ghostwritten. In a statement on its web site, Glaxo today wrote that the company didn’t “behave improperly” or withhold clinical-trial info