Judge Says Individual Claims, Defenses Preclude Certification of Paxil Class

PHILADELPHIA - A federal judge in Pennsylvania has refused to certify for trial three issues related to drug maker GlaxoSmithKline's alleged failure to warn of suicide risks associated with the antidepressant Paxil. Blair, et al. v. GlaxoSmithKline, No. 06-1247 (E.D. Pa.).

Rejecting a motion to certify a nationwide class of representatives who sued on behalf of pediatric patients, Judge Timothy J. Savage of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that individual circumstances surrounding the plaintiffs' allegations and GlaxoSmithKline's defenses to such prevent the class from satisfying the commonality, typicality and adequacy requirements of Rule 23.