AstraZeneca Accused of Suppressing Unfavorable Seroquel Studies, Faces Medical Injury Lawsuits
According to many, recently filed medical injury lawsuits, AstraZeneca neglected to release findings of a study that linked its anti-psychotic drug Seroquel to diabetes and sudden weight gain.
The results of the study, named Study 15, were available in 1997, but company executives conveniently chose to file away the results rather than notifying doctors. The company used other studies that painted a more favorable picture of the drug to promote it. .jpg)
Later that year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Seroquel. Since then, Seroquel has become one of the company's best selling drugs with billions of dollars in sales, including a whopping $12 billion in the last three years. Meanwhile, thousands of patients who were prescribed Seroquel developed diabetes and suffered extreme weight gain.
More than 9000 patients have developed hyperglycemia, diabetes, and weight gain after using the drug and have filed medical injury lawsuits against the company. Plaintiffs called for the unsealing of confidential company documents that prove the company was aware of the link between the use of Seroquel and diabetes and weight gain. As the contents of these documents are revealed, it is apparent that, not only was the company aware of Seroquel's potential side effects, but the company also ordered its sales representatives in the U.S. to tell doctors that the drug did not cause diabetes. This order was mandated after one of AstraZeneca's own physicians told a client such a link was indeed possible.
The release of the "hidden" documents has generated a long list of questions about the extent of deceit by the company. The documents reveal that a University of Minnesota psychiatrist, Dr. S. Charles Schulz, came to "questionable" findings regarding the safety of the drug, and still announced that it was "significantly superior" to the then, industry-leading Haldol. In his research, Dr. Schulz used much of the same data that, back in 2000, revealed Seroquel was no more effective than other cheaper alternatives. After using the same data, however, he managed to come to the conclusion that the drug was more effective.
If this all sounds sickeningly familiar, you may have heard about the recent Forest Laboratories Inc. scandal, in which federal prosecutors charged Forest Laboratories Inc. with suppressing studies that showed not-too-favorable results of its Lexapro medication for use in teenagers.
Medical Injury Lawyers
These all-too-frequent scandals raise questions about how drug companies are managing to spin research to present a favorable picture of their otherwise, questionable drugs. This is an issue the FDA has been battling a lot in recent years, as lawmakers, patients' safety advocates and medical injury lawyers around the country demand to know why companies are allowed to pass off results of company-sponsored studies as proof of their product's safety.
If you've been injured by use of a defective drug, contact a medical injury lawyer at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.
After being alerted by the 