GlaxoSmithKline is close to wrapping up another 1,000 Avandia liability suits. As Bloomberg reports, the company is in settlement talks with lawyers representing about 1,000 patients who used Avandia and later sued in state courts in Pennsylvania, California and Illinois. No word on the dollar amount of any of the settlement deals.
GSK has already agreed to pay some $700 million to settle about 12,000 lawsuits over the diabetes drug, Bloomberg's sources say. Avandia was withdrawn in Europe last year and severely restricted in the U.S. The regulatory moves came after several years of controversy over the drug, which studies have linked with heart failure, heart attacks and strokes.
The company has set aside more than $6 billion to cover liabilities associated with Avandia and other drugs, including the antidepressant Paxil. Two Avandia cases have been set for trial in November and another for March 2012. Meanwhile, the settlement talks are ongoing in state and federal suits. Some 5,300 state-court cases are pending, Bloomberg says, including those that are on the verge of settlement.
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