Parents Sue GlaxoSmithKline for Child's Alleged Paxil-Related Heart Defects

PHILADELPHIA - The parents of a child born with severe heart defects are suing GlaxoSmithKline, claiming that the wife's use of Paxil during her pregnancy caused their son's injuries. Vasquez v. GlaxoSmithKline. No. 3453 (Pa. Ct. Comm. Pleas, Philadelphia Cty.).

Anthony and Matilda Vasquez sued GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on July 28 in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, asserting that their two-year-old son, Adrian Vasquez, was born with severe heart defects as a result of being exposed in vitro to the company's Paxil (paroxetine HCI) antidepressant.

"The defects suffered by Adrian were a direct result of his mother's ingestion of Paxil …