Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7254

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

Eli Lilly's Zyprexa data didn't match: paper
Yahoo Finance 2006 Dec 21
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/061221/elililly_data.html?.v=1

Abstract:

For at least a year, drug company Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY – News) provided information to doctors about the blood-sugar risks of its drug Zyprexa that did not match data that the company circulated internally when it first reviewed its clinical trial results, the New York Times reported on its Web site, citing company documents.
The Times said part of the information comes from a February 2000 memo sent to top Lilly scientists. The memo is one of hundreds of internal Lilly documents provided to The New York Times by a lawyer in Alaska who represents mentally ill patients, the paper said. Zyprexa is a drug for schizophrenia.

Eli Lilly was not immediately available for comment.

The New York Times said in response to questions about the difference between its first view of the data and its subsequent public description, Lilly issued a statement on Wednesday saying that later figures were accurate and the information in February 2000 was out of context.

In yesterday’s statement, the company said that after the February 2000 memo, it re-examined its clinical trial results and found errors in its “final, standard quality check of the data,” the New York Times reported.