Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16559
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: news
O’Reilly C
Lilly to Pay Connecticut $25.1 Million Over Zyprexa
Bloomberg.com 2009 Sep 29
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=a5IlwI8PV.T8
Full text:
Ely Lilly & Co., the largest maker of psychiatric medicines, agreed to pay the state of Connecticut $25.1 million to settle claims it promoted the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa for unapproved uses.
The company illegally marketed Zyprexa to treat depression and attention-deficit disorder and for other uses in children never approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said at a press conference today in Hartford, Connecticut. Lilly also concealed the medicine’s serious side effects for more than a decade, he said.
“Propelled by profits, Eli Lilly promoted Zyprexa recklessly — regardless of danger or FDA rules,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “The result was catastrophic, causing severe weight gain, diabetes and cardiovascular problems in patients.”
Lilly said Sept. 21 that it agreed to settle Zyprexa claims with seven states without providing details.
Zyprexa, Lilly’s best-selling drug, has been the subject of federal and state investigations into whether the company marketed the medicine, approved for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, for unapproved, or off-label, uses. Lilly resolved a marketing investigation in January with the U.S. Justice Department, promising to pay $1.42 billion, including about $362 million to more than 30 states.
Company Focus
The Connecticut settlement “helps us get back to what we want to focus on as a company, which is to manufacture medicines,” Marni Lemons, a spokeswoman for Indianapolis-based Lilly, said in a phone interview.
The federal settlement left pending 12 lawsuits brought by individual states. Lilly announced July 22 that it would take a pretax charge of $102 million this quarter for settling “several” state lawsuits over Zyprexa. The company last month filed a $22.5 million agreement with West Virginia.
Lilly rose 38 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $33.42 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 4:15 p.m. The shares have fallen 17 percent this year.
