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Studies show Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic drug manufactured by Eli Lilly & Co. can cause diabetes, diabetes-related conditions and massive weight gain. Now, internal memos have surfaced showing that Eli Lilly knew the dangers of its top selling drug, yet told sales people to downplay it's side-effects. They also pushed this anti-psychotic drug for off-label use in mild, unrelated conditions.
On January 5th, 2007 Eli Lilly & Co. moved to settle some 18,000 claims, most of which allege that it failed to adequately warn patients that Zyprexa could cause diabetes. Eli Lilly has set aside $500 million to cover these claims, but the drug maker must still contend with some 1,200 holdouts and additional suits brought by insurers and state governments.
This is not the first time Eli Lilly has moved to settle Zyprexa claims. In June 2005, the drug maker settled some 8,000 claims totaling $690 million, most stemming from before September 2003 when information about the risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes was not adequately displayed on the Zyprexa label.
This new settlement comes on the heels of an article run in The New York Times on December 17th, 2006 titled "Eli Lilly said to Play Down Risk of Top Pill" detailing how the drug manufacturer has engaged in a decade-long effort to down-play the health risks of Zyprexa, its best-selling medication for schizophrenia, according to hundreds of internal Lilly documents and e-mail messages among top company managers. The documents, given to The Times by a lawyer representing mentally ill patients, show that Lilly executives kept important information from doctors about Zyprexa's links to obesity and its tendency to raise blood sugar - both known risk factors for diabetes.
State prosecutors in Illinois and Vermont have demanded that Eli Lilly turn over information on how they promoted Zyprexa. Federal laws prohibit the so called "off-label" marketing of drugs and in Zyprexa cases, off label would be for people who do not have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
In March 2004, the FDA asked Eli Lilly to add a new warning to Zyprexa, informing patients that it has been linked to diabetes and other blood sugar disorders. In a study done in August 2003, Zyprexa and two other atypical antipsychotics that are used to treat schizophrenia were found to cause diabetes 50 percent more often than older drugs.
In April 2002, Britain's Medicines Control Agency warned in their Current Problems newsletter that several patients taking Zyprexa had developed diabetes-related complications. The newsletter also pointed out that the antipsychotic drug "can adversely affect blood glucose."
Zyprexa is Eli Lilly's largest selling product, with sales last year of about 4.2 billion and about 30 billion since its introduction in 1996.
More than 20 million people have taken Zyprexa. If you are one of those people, or know someone who took Zyprexa and developed diabetes or a diabetes related disease or massive weight gain, please contact us today.
Call us today at Summers & Johnson, P.C. and set up a no-obligation appointment in our office or in your home to discuss your case.