Drug company disputes claim of new study on antidepressant Paxil

Drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is disputing claims that its antidepressant Paxil was linked to an increased suicide risk in adults.

The study, published this week, by scientists in Norway, suggests the antidepressant was linked to an increased suicide risk in adults.

The drug manufacturer is arguing that the research was flawed and misleading.

This strongly worded statement, from Europe's biggest drugmaker, highlights industry sensitivity to drug safety issues, and comes after a Texas court awarded $253 million against Merck & Co. Inc. in a case over its painkiller Vioxx last week.

This is not the first time that GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil and other similar drugs have been linked to suicide and doctors around the world have been warned they should not generally be used among under-18s.

But now the researchers at Oslo University say that the drug also seemed to affect adults in the same way.

In their analysis of trials involving more than 1,500 patients they found seven suicide attempts among those taking the drug and only one among those taking a placebo.

According to GSK the analysis is misleading as it focuses on incorrectly selected data, collected 15 years ago when GSK was seeking approval for the medicine, which is also known as Seroxat and paroxetine.

The company says the study results only cause confusion and unnecessary concern for patients using an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), such as paroxetine, for treatment of depression.

They say the sub-analysis also fails to acknowledge the current body of data, which is significantly more extensive and which has been recently reviewed by EU authorities.

Earlier this year experts at the European Medicines Agency reaffirmed the positive benefit-risk for Paxil in the treatment of adult anxiety and depression.

The study is published in the BMC Medicine open access journal.