After haggling between lawyers over fees and objections by consumer advocates, an Illinois state court judge this morning finally approved a $64 million settlement of a lawsuit, which claims Glaxo misled parents by not disclosing its antidepressant was dangerous and ineffective when taken by children younger than 18.

The money will be used to pay out-of-pocket expenses and attorney fees for parents who participated in the class-action litigation. Judge Ralph Mendelsohn of the Third Judicial Circuit of Madison County, Illinois, approved what wound being a revised settlement, which will provide up to $100 for class members who are unable to produce documentation of out-of-pocket expenses and eliminates a $300,000 cap.

The deal had been delayed as lawyers argued over how $16 million in fees should be divided and Public Citizen sought to eliminate the cap and stipulations requiring documentation. For the most part, the litigation has flown under the radar screen, because participants sign confidentiality agreements not to discuss their cases. The lawsuits charged that Glaxo withheld info showing Paxil didn’t work any better than a placebo.

Background reading in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch;
Public Citizen press release.
[tags]GlaxoSmithKline, Paxil[/tags]