Friday, January 16, 2009

Eli Lilly to Pay $1.42 Billion to Settle Zyprexa Marketing Suits

Anti-psychotic drug was allegedly improperly pushed for treatment of myriad ailments

Eli Lilly & Co. will pay a combined $1.42 billion, including the largest criminal fine in history -- $515 million -- to settle charges that it illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa for off-label use, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Zyprexa was approved by the Food and Drug Administration only as a treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, prosecutors said, but Lilly allegedly set out to market the drug to elderly patients as a treatment for dementia, Alzheimer's, agitation, depression and generalized sleep disorder.

In doing so, prosecutors said, Indianapolis-based Lilly ignored explicit warnings from the FDA that Zyprexa should not be so widely prescribed because of side effects such as weight gain that could lead to obesity and even the onset of diabetes in some patients.

Read full story Law.com

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