Healthy Skepticism Library item: 14420
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
Swiatek J.
Lily to pay $62M in 32-state Zyprexa settlement
The Indianapolis Star 2008 Oct 7
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081007/BUSINESS03/810070327/1278/BUSINESS03
Full text:
Eli Lilly and Co. will pay $62 million to 32 states to settle an investigation into improper marketing of top-selling drug Zyprexa.
The settlement, to be announced today, is the largest-ever multistate consumer protection action against a drug company, said Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter.
The money will be split among 32 states, with Indiana getting $1.6 million for consumer protection purposes and other activities in the attorney general’s office.
The states accused the Indianapolis drug maker of marketing the schizophrenia drug Zyprexa in violation of state consumer protection laws, starting in 2001.
The campaign promoted Zyprexa for non-federally approved uses, including use by children, at high dosage levels and in the elderly for dementia, the action by the attorneys general alleged. The settlement also calls for Lilly to abide by certain ethical marketing practices over the next six years, including putting its medical staff and not its marketing people in charge of writing medical letters to doctors.
“We’re glad the company resolved it and is moving toward greater transparency” in its marketing, Carter said. Lilly agreed to the settlement without an admission of fault, Carter said. A Lilly spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
Zyprexa has been the source of several high-dollar settlements for Lilly, including the payout of more than $1 billion to resolve several thousand claims by patients who alleged the drug caused harmful and undivulged side effects, including weight gain and diabetes.
In July, a federal judge who oversaw the earlier settlement with U.S. patients, urged Lilly to enter into a similar settlement with worldwide patients who seek up to $7.7 billion.
