Lilly Settles 900 More Zyprexa Lawsuits
4 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // January 25th, 2008 // 10:26 am
There’s scant information available at the moment, but the drugmaker has settled another 900 personal-injury claims concerning its Zyprexa antipsychotic, according to The Indianapolis Star.
Among the cases resolved were five that were set to go to court this month, which means Lilly has avoided what would have been the first Zyprexa product liability trial in the US. Lilly confirmed the settlement, but declined to reveal the amount. With the latest agreements, Lilly has now settled more than 25,000 claims, leaving about 1,100 unsettled. Many of the plaintiffs have claimed Lilly underplayed the drug’s side effects, including weight gain and elevated blood sugar. Lilly has set aside $1.2 billion to pay claims.
The ligitation erupted in controversy more than a year ago, after The New York Times published sealed court documents suggesting Lilly hid and downplayed the side effects, and improperly promoted the drug to docs. The episode cast a harsh spotlight on the drugmaker, although a federal judge in New York reacted in anger, saying the reporter, a former expert witness for the plaintiffs, and a psychiatric-rights lawyer conspired to leak the documents (this is his order). The former expert witness later settled with Lilly (here it is). Lilly never released all the documents at the center of the dispute.
Lilly Settles 900 More Zyprexa Lawsuits | Pharmacy Tips
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Amy G
Curious that only one small paragraph appeared on this in the newspapers. Lilly confined it to their hometown newspaper, the Indianapolist Star.
Justice in Michigan
Indeed. Another example of what would never have happened without civil liability. Clearly, Lilly settled to keep the rest of documents suppressed (no discover in trial). Unless one thinks that their Zyprexa campaign was entirely above board and appropriate, this is the sort of situation that won’t happen if FDA preemption is upheld.
Melody
In 1996, (See John Cornwell’s The Power to Harm)Lilly used the same tactic to ’settle’ a Prozac case (perhaps even more effectively, as there were behind-the-scenes shenanigans that ultimately stirred the trial judge to re-classify the “non guilty” verdict as tainted.)The oily corporate lawyers are expert at gaming the system. I suppose that Lilly’s successful gaming back then established the model that we see today.