PAXIL suicide suit - prescriber liable not GSK for $3million

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Jury awards family $3 million, judge decides on interest

Written by Brent Ruffner/News-Bulletin

Saturday, 15 October 2011 07:00

District Court Judge ruled in favor of the defense Wednesday in a multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuit that could have granted the plaintiffs hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest payments.

ruled the plaintiffs, and Cheng Silva, parents of Silva, will receive 2 percent in pre-judgment interest after jurors returned a $3 million verdict last month for the estate of their daughter, Silva.

Silva was a Los Lunas resident who committed suicide after she took the anti-depressant drug Paxil. could have awarded up to 10 percent interest.

In September, a jury found that Lovelace Health System Inc. was negligent in adequately informing Silva of the adverse effects of the drug. Silva, 30, died in April 2006, court documents said.

Silva's parents claimed Dr. Isabel -Colberg of Lovelace failed to warn their daughter that she could be part of a population that is vulnerable to committing suicide as a direct result of taking Paxil.

According to court documents, -Colberg prescribed Silva the drug in 2004 after she had symptoms of anxiety.

Court documents said Silva complained that the medication "sometimes made her feel "uncomfortable," and that if she forgot to take the medication for a day or two "she would get quite ill" after she switched to a generic version of the drug.

B.J. Crow, an attorney for the plaintiffs, asked to award his clients the full 10 percent of interest under state statute. State statute says that interest can be awarded on a claim before a judgment is made on a case. The rate of the awarded interest is at the discretion of the judge.

In this case, the plaintiffs will be awarded about $46,000 a year for three years. A ruling of 10 percent would have paid the plaintiffs almost $230,000 a year in interest payments.

Collection of interest starts from the date the complaint is served, which was in May 2008.

Crow said Lovelace should have to pay the full amount of interest since he said the company was reluctant to offer the plaintiffs a reasonable settlement. He said Lovelace offered to settle the case for $100,000.

"We could still argue that 10 percent is appropriate in this case," Crow said. "There is a reason the Legislature says you can go up to 10 percent. That is to foster settlement. That is what exactly didn't happen in this case."

Defense attorney Pete Domenici Jr. said the higher rate was excessive.

"I don't think this is meant to be a windfall with the plaintiffs," Domenici Jr. said. "I think it's meant to allow a judge like you to balance equitable factors and we respectfully ask that you do that."

called the full amount "excessive," and said that $46,000 a year over a three-year span was a more reasonable rate.

"I decided on 2 percent," said in an interview. "I don't think 40 some thousand is unreasonable."

According to court documents, the plaintiffs were awarded $120,000 for suffering the loss of their daughter.

In August, attorneys for the Silva family declined an offer from Lovelace to settle the case and filed a counter offer of $1.8 million. That offer was declined.

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