SmithKline Beecham’s Study 329 of Paxil may well be the single most infamous drug trial ever, and its history is instructive.
Paxil is one of several brand names for paroxetine, a drug developed in 1975 by the Danish pharmaceutical firm Ferrosan, which in 1980 sold the rights to the drug to the Beecham Group. (In 1989, the Beecham Group merged with SmithKline Beckman to form SmithKline Beecham, which in 2000 merged with Glaxo Wellcome to form GlaxoSmithKline, at the time the largest drug company on the planet.) Paxil, which was approved by the FDA at the end of 1992, is one of a class of antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, or SSRI’s. Despite its alleged selectivity, this drug has been approved for a dizzying variety of human woes, including major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, hot flashes, and something called “premenstrual dysphoric disorder.”
