Eli Lilly Agrees to Settlement in Zyprexa Case
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Company has agreed to a $1.42 billion settlement in a civil and criminal suit involving injuries resulting from the company's promotion of off-label use of its anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa. This settlement includes a $30 million award to Texas.
The U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating the manner in which Eli Lilly & Company engaged in improper marketing of Zyprexa for uses not approved by the FDA. Zyprexa is an anti-psychotic drug approved for treatment of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, the company, beginning in 1999, commenced promotion of Zyprexa use for patients suffering from dementia, depression and other conditions. Eli Lilly representatives were sent to nursing homes to market the drug for elderly residents. The FDA does not prohibit doctors from prescribing medicines for purposes other than those approved, but pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to promote such off-label use of a drug. Eli Lilly was, therefore, acting in blatant violation of FDA regulations by promoting the off-label use of Zyprexa.
Reports of injury, including infections and heart attacks, began to surface, but the company chose to overlook them and continue to promote Zyprexa for use in elderly dementia patients. In 2006, the FDA asked Eli Lilly to include strong warning labels on Zyprexa cautioning patients of the increased risk when used by the elderly. The company has since had close to 32,000 medical injury lawsuits failed against them and has been forced to pay approximately $1.2 billion in settlements.
Eli Lilly’s violation of FDA rules and complete disregard for patient safety has shocked patients' safety advocates, concerned citizens and medical injury lawyers since the scandal first made headlines. Unfortunately, greed often takes precedence over ethical promotion practices at many of the country's most reputed pharmaceutical companies. When the FDA gives approval to a particular drug, it does so to reassure patients that they can feel safe using the drug for a specified condition. When companies like Eli Lilly greedily promote their products for unapproved purposes, they place consumers at risk for serious injury and even death.
Pursuing Pharmaceutical Drug Injury Cases
Pursuing claims against a major pharmaceutical company can be a long, complex procedure, involving expert witnesses and medical researchers, who can help build a winning case. At Arnold & Itkin LLP, we have pursued injury lawsuits against some of the country's biggest companies to recover compensation for our clients.
If you have been harmed by a defective drug, contact a medical injury lawyer at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.
