Drugmaker Ordered To Pay $3 Million Over Lawyer's Suicide

GLENCOE, IL — A north suburban Chicago therapist whose spouse committed suicide while taking generic anti-depressants was awarded $3 million in a federal lawsuit Thursday. Back in 2010, Wendy Dolin's husband Stewart, a 57-year-old corporate lawyer at Reed Smith's Chicago offices, jumped in front of a Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line train in downtown Chicago less than a week after beginning to take paroxetine, a generic version of Paxil, a drug made by GlaxoSmithKline.

She filed a lawsuit in 2012. In 2014, the judge dismissed the allegations against generic drugmaker Mylan. At trial, Dolin's attorney's sought $39 million in damages from the pharmaceutical company, according to Reuters.

Last week, after three days of deliberation, a jury found that the company failed to properly warn Dolin of the increased risk in suicidal behavior. Attorney for Wendy Dolin Brent Wisner called the lack of proper suicide risk labeling "outrageous" and expressed hope that the ruling would send "a clear signal" to GlaxoSmithKline that they need to change their drug labeling, according to the Chicago Tribune.

GlaxoSmithKline issued a statement saying it was disappointed by the ruling, that it did not market or make the medication Stewart Dolin had been taking and that warning labels were complete at the time.

In the memory of her late husband, Wendy Dolin founded the Medication-Induced Suicide Prevention and Education Foundation.

» Read more from the Chicago Tribune and Reuters

Top photo: Patch file