Lilly To Pay $62M To States Over Zyprexa Suits
7 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // October 7th, 2008 // 6:25 am
The drugmaker will settle claims with 33 states that allege the Zyprexa antipsychotic med, which was approved only for treating schizophrenia and bipolard disorder, was marketed off-label to patients, The New York Times reports.
The settlement ends an 18-month investigation led by the offices of the attorneys general of Illinois and Oregon, which contended Lilly violated consumer protection laws by urging doctors to prescribe Zyprexa to patients who did not need it, the paper writes (back story). Here is the settlement with Oregon.
This is also the largest settlement paid by a drugmaker in a state consumer protection case, topping the $58 million that Merck paid to settle similar allegations about Vioxx, according to lawyers who spoke with the Times.
The agreement may also signal another deal is near in a separate but related civil and criminal investigation led by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia. In that case, the paper notes, Lilly is expected to pay more than $1 billion in fines and restitution to states and the federal government and may also plead guilty to a misdemeanor criminal charge related to off-label marketing of Zyprexa (back story).
“We know they’re working hard to get that settlement done,” James Kole, the chief of the consumer fraud bureau for the Illinois office, tells the paper (statement from Illinois AG).
The multi-state investigation and the Philadelphia case center on Lilly’s marketing of Zyprexa. Internal Lilly documents and e-mail messages appear to show the drugmaker marketed it for patients with dementia and milder forms of bipolar disorder, which the paper notes would violate federal law.
Zyprexa can cause severe weight gain and an increase in blood sugar in many patients and is more likely to cause diabetes than most other meds for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to the American Diabetes Association.
“The company’s deceptive marketing practices were illegal and highly dangerous,” Lisa Madigan, the attorney general of Illinois, tells the Times. A spokesman and a lawyer for Lilly did not return a call and an e-mail message for comment to the paper.
David Hart, senior assistant attorney general for Oregon, tells the Times that “we’re trying to send a message to the pharmaceutical industry that consumer fraud is something we’re going to investigate and prosecute.”
Daniel Haszard
DO the RIGHT THING!
Lilly has a tiger by the tail,many individual Zyprexa claimants have NOT been paid yet.
Daniel Haszard
bpw
A drop in the bucket! of course, they admitted no wrongdoing and laughed all the way to the bank. It’s the way of Big Pharma led by their greedy executives.
Meg
Permitting Lilly to make this settlement without admitting wrongdoing further negates its lack of meaning. And the fact that state AGs are not seeking additional funds for individuals harmed for a lifetime with diabetes ( on top of mental illness) or the families of the dead also make this a dead letter. The mass torts permitted by Judge Weinstein allowed those that lived and the families of those that died to receive a pittance, then took a very big chunk of that for the attorneys, then - surprise - took another chunk for each state’s Medicaid and the federal Medicare program.
Where is the justice in this farce of a settlement? I don’t see any.
Lilly Man
Woefully inadequate! I’m embarrassed as the top executives continue to act in this way and are let off free. For God’s sake, the current CEO appears to have been one of the worst offenders. What does it sy about Lilly to let this man run the place? Typical Big Pharma bully!!
Justice in MI
The usual shtik. There may be a misdemeanor criminal charge.
True confessions?
KillrKat
Once again the big Pharmacutical Co, basically wins, and the poor people that took this medicine that thought that it was going to help and it didn’t , LOST big time. It is by far an total atrosity. I agree with a comment one of the others made, the big Pharma reps laugh all the way to the bank, 62 mil is chump change to them when they make that in probably a month. It just makes me sick that all those families suffered, and my heart goes out to all of them, I wish they could have gotten more justice then they did. Maybe some how some way, karma will play in their favor and those hot shots will gets their comeupins.
me
I agree with Killrkat. I’m a victim of Eli Lilly’s practices. I gained weight and got diabetes II . I really appreciate your comment, Killrkat. They need someone like you fighting for us. The zyprexa company lied to us all. It’s more than us that got sick, it’s our families that put up with us also. Hopfully, they can find something that can reverse zyprexa diabetes (they as in herbalist or real people and not Lilly).