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Lilly's Fat-Making Sugar Pill Zyprexa @ Furious Seasons

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The other week we were talking about ex-Seattle Weekly reporter Philip Dawdy taking on Big Pharma on his blog Furious Seasons.

Now he's hosting leaked internal Eli Lilly documents that seem to show Lilly...what's the best way...seriously misstating?...the side effects and permissible uses of Zyprexa, a drug used for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Lilly knew Zyprexa caused problems -- but Lilly somehow forgot to tell doctors all about it.

Documents provided to The New York Times last month by a lawyer who represents mentally ill patients show that Lilly played down the risks of Zyprexa to doctors as the drug's sales soared after its introduction in 1996. The internal documents show that in Lilly's clinical trials, 16 percent of people taking Zyprexa gained more than 66 pounds after a year on the drug, a far higher figure than the company disclosed to doctors.

The documents also show that Lilly marketed the drug as appropriate for patients who did not meet accepted diagnoses of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, Zyprexa's only approved uses.


Hosting the docs is a gutsy move for a blogger because they're a little controversial. US District Court Judge Jack Weinstein already issued an "invitation and order" calling on New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, who broke the Zyprexa story, to explain exactly how he obtained the Lilly documents. (Times to Weinstein: "Hey, good luck with that.")

Zyprexa is Lilly's largest-selling drug. But their Q4 earnings were hurt by the $500 million they agreed to pay 18,000 fatsos and diabetics. (The Times reports that, including earlier settlements over Zyprexa, "Lilly has now agreed to pay at least $1.2 billion to 28,500 people who said they were injured by the drug.")

Dawdy's "Zyprexa Chronicles" coverage has been exhaustive. But you already heard about this breach of trust, right? After all, who knows what Lilly medication you or someone you know is taking: "Lilly products treat depression, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, osteoporosis and many other conditions." So maybe in the Seattle Times? Oops, maybe not. Well, some of it was in the P-I.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By MvB in on February 7, 2007 11:15 AM

Comments [rss]

  • Ramirez

    I will recomend this site... Excelent work!!! May I use your palette at my site?

  • Teodor

    Good site - you're a pretty good writer..... Very creative...

  • Don't worry BMS (makers of Abilify, antipsychotic with diabetes risk)and AstraZeneca (makers of Seroquel,antipsychotic with diabetes risk)are on the way to save the day:

    Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca Announce Worldwide Collaboration to Develop and Commercialize Diabetes Compounds

    Just in time for those new, old and future diabetes patients.

    you can read the article here on my blog

  • mental health professional

    This certainly seems like an issue that should be highlighted. I have to admit that I initially read your entry very critically and was offended by your tone... Stepping back, however, I realize that it was tongue-in-cheek. Drug companies are pretty scummy.

  • Good for Philip Dawdy :-)

    How Lilly and their lawyers didn't realise in the beginning that trying to silence the whole corrupt issue would result in FAR MORE INTEREST in, and FAR MORE DISSEMINATION of, the "Secret" Zyprexa Documents is beyond comprehension.

    A few thousand people downloading last time, a few thousand people again this time.

    Those documents haven't been "SECRET" since the first downloads - and will NEVER be SECRET again.

    Why they were 'trade secret' when knowledge of the contents of those documents was vitally important to public health, is in itself a scandal.

    In February 2005, Judge Weinstein wrote in his book "Individual Justice in Mass Tort Litigation" (Page 70)

    "[p]rotective orders may have a legitimate role when there is no public impact or when true trade secrets are involved. But we can strike a fairer balance between privacy interests of corporations and the health and safety of the public. A publicly maintained legal system ought not protect those who engage in misconduct, conceal the cause of injury from the victims, or render potential victims vulnerable. Moreover, such secrecy defeats the deterrent function of the justice system."

  • Harold A. Maio

    Lily may have misrepresented Zyprexa, but think about the number of physicians who watched as people coming to them for care gained weight, developed diabetes and then did not intervene.

    And it is not as if the issue never made it into the news. It did. It is not as if the issue could be unknown to an examining heath care professional. Diabetes and death ensued in full view of physicians.

  • Eli Lilly Zyprexa scandal



    Zyprexa off label promotion scandal is all over the news now.

    Lilly drug reps are alleged to have called their marketing ploy,"Viva zyprexa".



    Eli Lilly zyprexa cost me over $250.00 a month supply out of my own pocket X 4 years and has up to ten times the risk (over non users) of causing diabetes and severe weight gain.



    Zyprexa which is only FDA approved for schizophrenia (.5-1% of pop) and some bipolar (2% pop) and then an even smaller percentage of theses two groups.

    So how does Zyprexa get to be the 7th largest drug sale in the world?

    Eli Lilly is in deep trouble for using their drug reps to 'encourage' doctors to write zyprexa for non-FDA approved 'off label' uses.



    The drug causes increased diabetes risk,and medicare picks up all the expensive fallout.There are now 7 states (and counting) going after Lilly for fraud and restitution.



    ---

    Daniel Haszard zyprexa-victims.com

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