2:17pm UK, Wednesday August 21, 2002

Pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline has won a victory in one of a series of legal wrangles in the US.

SL Glaxo SmithKline Logo

The Justice Department has overruled an early District Court ruling tell GSK to withdraw advertising about its drug, Paxil.

The District Court came down on the side of Paxil users who said they had suffered withdrawal symptoms when they stopped using the drug.

The court then ordered GSK to withdraw its ads saying the drug was not addictive.

Not addictive

But Justice Department lawyers referred to the US Food and Drug Administration which, in a "statement of interest", said Paxil was not habit forming.

FDA scientists' opinion should trump a court's ruling, the lawyers said.

Reconsider ruling

The Bush administration urged the court to reconsider the order, according to the filing.

Paxil belongs to a popular class of drugs known as Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors - Eli Lilly's Prozac was the first such drug.

Paxil, known as Seroxat in Europe, was Glaxo's best selling drug last year, with sales of about £1.82bn.