GlaxoSmithKline to publish clinical trials after US lawsuit

Abstract

The world's second largest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, is to publish summaries of the results of all its clinical trials on its website once a product has been launched. GlaxoSmithKline said it has been considering the move for several months now, but it follows on the heels of a US lawsuit, filed by Eliot Spitzer, New York state's attorney general, earlier this month. Mr Spitzer alleged the company engaged in “repeated and persistent fraud” for concealing the results of clinical studies for its antidepressant paroxetine; these suggested the drug was ineffective and unsafe in treating depression in children and adolescents (12 June, p 1395). Mr Spitzer also had an internal …