A Glencoe woman hugged her attorneys after a jury in Chicago awarded her $3 million Thursday in a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company that she blamed for her husband's suicide.
"We won!" she mouthed to one of her lawyers.
Wendy Dolin's husband, Stewart, stepped in front of a CTA Blue Line train in the Loop on July 15, 2010. He had been taking paroxetine, a drug for depression and anxiety, and his widow claimed in her lawsuit that GlaxoSmithKline failed to warn her husband's doctor of the drug's increased risk of suicidal behavior, leading to his death.
GlaxoSmithKline makes Paxil, a brand-name version of paroxetine. Though Stewart Dolin was taking the generic form, his widow's suit argued — and the jury agreed — that the pharmaceutical company was still responsible because the drugs are identical and have the same labeling.
Stewart Dolin was a corporate attorney and a partner at the Reed Smith law firm at the time of his death. He was 57. [...]
"This for me has not just been about the money. This has always been about awareness to a health issue, and the public has to be aware of this," she said after the verdict was announced in federal court following three days of jury deliberations.
"None of us here are anti-drug. That's not the issue," Dolin added, "but we are patient advocates and we hope that people will start asking better questions."
Officials from the pharmaceutical company said the verdict was disappointing and that they plan to appeal. [...]
"I think Stewart would be very proud of his family," Wendy Dolin said, "and how we've all stood together and made a difference, that we didn't allow this injustice."
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