Many states are going after the drug makers to retrieve the money spent on illegal off-label prescriptions. In July, 2006, Mississippi filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly with allegations that the company improperly marketed Zyprexa for "off-label" uses and defrauded the state Medicaid program out of millions of dollars, according to the July 27, 2006, Jackson Clarion Ledger.
The lawsuit alleges that Lilly sales representatives convinced Mississippi doctors to prescribe the Zyprexa to patients who suffered from anxiety, mood swings and disturbed sleep when the drug was only FDA approved for the treatment of adults with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
The suit also alleges that Lilly did not properly emphasize the dangers of the drug, such as an increased risk of diabetes, and that treating Medicaid patients who became ill from the drug has increased Medicaid costs.
Experts in the medical profession who have not been compromised by the drug companies are furious over the practice of drugging kids with dangerous psychiatric drugs for profit.
For instance, Pediatrician, Dr Lawrence Diller, author of the book, "Should I Medicate My Child," testified before an FDA advisory committee in September 2004, on the rampant off-label prescribing of SSRI drugs to children after learning about 8 previously undisclosed studies that proved the drug makers knew all the long that SSRIs were linked to suicide in children but kept the findings hidden from doctors who were prescribing the drugs.
Dr Diller said the "final blow" was learning of these 8 studies and that the loss of credibility within the medical profession extended beyond psychiatry into all of medicine and ended his testimony by stating:
"The blame is clear: The money, power and influence of the pharmaceutical industry corrupt all. The pervasive control that the drug companies have over medial research, publications, professional organizations, doctors' practices, Congress, and yes, even agencies like the FDA, is the American equivalent of a drug cartel."
Information for injured parties can be found at Lawyers and Settlements.com
Thanks Evelyn Pringle for the heads up on Eli Lilly ZYPREXA
Zyprexa (Olanzapine) is Lilly's largest seller. It used to be the first-place atypical antipsychotic in the U.S. but has dropped to third. This is probably because doctors and patients have learned, through the NIH CATIE study and through thousands of lawsuits, that it has the most dangerous side effects of all the drugs in its class. It causes diabetes, hyperglycemia, and death. 8000 plaintiffs settled with Lilly in 2005 and are still waiting for payment.
Many states have sued Lilly for alleged fraud, for not revealing its side effects, and for compensation to their state's Medicaid programs for the costs of the drug as well as the costs involved in caring for people who got such conditions as diabetes from the drug. Lilly has also been charged with alleged fraud in off-label marketing of the drug for children.
Many individual lawsuits remain outstanding and will begin to be heard once the 8000 plaintiff suit has been finalized. Lilly states that it will "vigously defend" itself against these individual lawsuits, but a number of them are for death allegedly caused by this drug
--
Daniel Haszard ~ zyprexa caused my diabetes http://www.zyprexa-victims.com
by
Danny Haszard (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 52 comments)
on Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 8:16:59 AM
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