"You will see internal GlaxoSmith documents that the FDA hasn't seen, that the United States Congress hasn't seen, and that no jury has ever laid their eyes on before," he said. "They have been under seal for over three years."
Many of the sealed documents related to the Paxil studies conducted on rats and rabbits. The world-renowned expert from the UK, Dr David Healy, testified on behalf of the plaintiffs.
Paxil was originally owned by a Danish company called Ferrosan, and that company did the preliminary animal studies on rats and rabbits to look at teratogenicity around 1979 and 1980.
Healy explained that a teratogen is an agent that will cause birth defects and "it could be a drug or maybe a virus or maybe an illness."
In addition to birth defects, he said, a teratogen can cause a fetus to be born dead or cause a miscarriage, which is death before birth.
The jury heard about studies 295, 296 and 297, with the most damning being study 295, in which three groups of pregnant rats were given Paxil at doses of 5, 15, and 50 milligrams. The pregnancy outcomes at birth, and 4 days beyond, were then compared to rats born to mothers who received no Paxil.
The rat pups born to mothers who did not receive Paxil were all born alive. Of the 415 pups born to mothers who were given Paxil, 47 were born dead.
In the group of rats exposed to 5 milligrams of Paxil, 65 percent were dead by day four. In the 15 milligram group, 92 percent had died by the fourth day. Of the pups exposed to 50 milligrams, 100 percent were dead by day 4.
Eighty-eight percent of the pups born to mothers who received no Paxil were still alive at day four.
Autopsies were not performed on all the rats to figure out why they died or whether they had birth defects, and specifically heart defects.
After Tracey described the study in his opening statement, in regard to the product information that Glaxo was providing in April 2005, during her opening statement, Glaxo attorney, Varner, told the jury, "GSK in its label reported on the animal studies, including the death of the rat pups that you have heard so much about this morning."
"I would like you to note three things about the discussion in the product information about the animal studies," she said.
"First, there were no birth defects in the study," she told he jury. "That is, there were no malformations or difficulties, structural difficulties, with the animals."
"Second," she said, "the rat pups who died shortly after birth were dosed at something like ten times the normal dose."
"And, third, the dosing occurred not in the first trimester, the dosing occurred in the third trimester and continued throughout lactation," Varner told the jury.
"You will hear expert testimony that the death of the rat pups is believed to have been due to a lactation problem," she said, "it was during the lactation period that these pups died."
Many of the sealed documents related to the Paxil studies conducted on rats and rabbits. The world-renowned expert from the UK, Dr David Healy, testified on behalf of the plaintiffs.
Paxil was originally owned by a Danish company called Ferrosan, and that company did the preliminary animal studies on rats and rabbits to look at teratogenicity around 1979 and 1980.
Healy explained that a teratogen is an agent that will cause birth defects and "it could be a drug or maybe a virus or maybe an illness."
The jury heard about studies 295, 296 and 297, with the most damning being study 295, in which three groups of pregnant rats were given Paxil at doses of 5, 15, and 50 milligrams. The pregnancy outcomes at birth, and 4 days beyond, were then compared to rats born to mothers who received no Paxil.
The rat pups born to mothers who did not receive Paxil were all born alive. Of the 415 pups born to mothers who were given Paxil, 47 were born dead.
In the group of rats exposed to 5 milligrams of Paxil, 65 percent were dead by day four. In the 15 milligram group, 92 percent had died by the fourth day. Of the pups exposed to 50 milligrams, 100 percent were dead by day 4.
Eighty-eight percent of the pups born to mothers who received no Paxil were still alive at day four.
Autopsies were not performed on all the rats to figure out why they died or whether they had birth defects, and specifically heart defects.
After Tracey described the study in his opening statement, in regard to the product information that Glaxo was providing in April 2005, during her opening statement, Glaxo attorney, Varner, told the jury, "GSK in its label reported on the animal studies, including the death of the rat pups that you have heard so much about this morning."
"I would like you to note three things about the discussion in the product information about the animal studies," she said.
"First, there were no birth defects in the study," she told he jury. "That is, there were no malformations or difficulties, structural difficulties, with the animals."
"Second," she said, "the rat pups who died shortly after birth were dosed at something like ten times the normal dose."
"And, third, the dosing occurred not in the first trimester, the dosing occurred in the third trimester and continued throughout lactation," Varner told the jury.
"You will hear expert testimony that the death of the rat pups is believed to have been due to a lactation problem," she said, "it was during the lactation period that these pups died."
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