Glaxo betrayed the public?

The company's own studies showed that the drug tripled the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour in depressed youngsters. Despite the trial findings, Glaxo attempted to show that the drug benefited depressed adolescents.

Glaxo said it "rejects any suggestion that it has improperly withheld any drug trial information," BBC News reported.

The company emails were uncovered when Glaxo was forced to open its confidential internal archive after bereaved families in the United States joined together to sue the drug maker.

In one email, a public relations executive working for Glaxo wrote: "Originally, we had planned to do extensive media relations surrounding this study until we actually viewed the results.

"Essentially, the study did not really show it was effective in treating adolescent depression, which is not something we want to publicise." – (HealthDayNews)

January 2007