The on-going legal battle over the disclosure of secret Eli Lilly documents that reveal the serious health risks associated with Zyprexa and the company's off-label promotion of the drug involves a matter of grave public concern.
But observers on the sidelines of this courtroom circus say the conduct of the judge in helping Lilly keep documents secret that give the specific details of an illegal marketing scheme that is literally killing people is almost as disturbing as the underlying acts.
The off-label prescribing of Zyprexa has created a public health crisis. According to the New York Times, the secret documents show a pattern of unlawful activities that may have left the 20 million individuals who have taken Zyprexa with incomplete information regarding the side effects of the drug.
Harvard trained psychiatrist, Dr Stefan Kruszewski, reports that Zyprexa increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular complications, heart attacks and stroke.
Keeping in mind that the FDA says that only between 1% and 10% of adverse events are reported to the agency, a study conducted 5 years ago, in the July 2002, issue of Pharmacotherapy, reviewed the adverse event reports submitted on Zyprexa and found that of the 289 cases of diabetes reported, 225 of the patients were newly diagnosed.
The review also identified 100 Zyprexa patients who had developed ketosis, a serious complication of diabetes, 22 cases of pancreatitis, a life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas, and 23 deaths associated with the drug.
Zyprexa is an antipsychotic approved by the FDA to treat adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder only. But doctors are prescribing the drug for conditions, treatment durations, and patient populations for which it was never intended and worst of all it is being widely prescribed for children.
For instance, in February 2006, public health officials in Florida ordered an investigation into why the number of children who are prescribed antipsychotics billed to Medicaid in Florida had nearly doubled in five years, from 9,500 children to almost 18,000.
The lawsuits filed against Lilly to recover the money paid for Zyprexa by state Medicaid programs due to the company's off-label promotion say the drug is being sold for unapproved uses such as anxiety and other mood disorders, sleep disruption, autism, attention deficit disorders, hyperactivity, and dementia.
According to the attorney general of Mississippi, about 10% of Zyprexa patients on Medicaid in that state, have developed diabetes. In fact, the health problems associated with Zyprexa have become so prevalent, that one class action lawsuit is demanding money to cover the medical monitoring of all patients who took Zyprexa but have not yet been diagnosed with high blood sugar, diabetes, or pancreatitis.
Children on Zyprexa are developing life-long injuries. At the annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Washington, DC, on October 20, 2004, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center reported that atypical antipsychotics were found to trigger insulin resistance in children. The researchers evaluated 11 children who gained significant amounts of weight while taking the drugs.
Weight gain is a known risk factor that contributes to insulin resistance. Insulin is produced by the pancreas to help cells absorb glucose and provide energy. When resistance occurs, the pancreas tries to keep up with the demand by producing more insulin until it eventually cannot keep up, and excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream which can increase the risk of type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
All six children in the John Hopkins study who were on moderate or high doses of an antipsychotic developed symptoms of insulin resistance, and three of the 5 children on low doses did as well.
The study's lead author, Dr Mark Riddle, director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Center, said, "The insulin resistance seen in these children was greater than what would be expected from weight gain alone, suggesting there is a factor distinct from excess weight that directly induces insulin resistance."
Experts say Zyprexa is poison for some people. According to Dr Louis Caplan, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, there is overuse of antipsychotics in patients admitted to hospitals. "These drugs," he said, "are often given in high doses to very sick patients in intensive care units or on medical and surgical units," in the February 21, 2006, journal Neurology.
"They cause symptoms and neurological dysfunctions that are a common reason for neurological consultations in the hospital," Dr Caplan warns.
I am Daniel Haszard took Eli Lilly zyprexa 4 years for PTSD didn't do me any good made me gain weight and gave me diabetes.The zyprexa cost $250.00 a month all during that time too.
Zyprexa has been linked to causing diabetes and pancreatitis.
Did you know that Lilly made nearly $3 billion last year on diabetic meds, Actos,Humulin and Byetta?
Yes! They sell a drug that causes diabetes and then turn a profit on the drugs that treat the condition that they caused in the first place!
I was prescribed Zyprexa from 1996 until 2000.
In early 2000 i was shocked to have an A1C test result of 13.9 (normal is 4-6) I have no history of diabetes in my family.
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Daniel Haszard
by
Danny Haszard (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 50 comments)
on Friday, February 2, 2007 at 2:23:35 AM
