The AP reports, “Utah has agreed to a $24 million settlement with Eli Lilly & Co. over claims the drugmaker engaged in off-label marketing of the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa [olanzapine],” according to Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. The drug is currently “approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and certain types of bipolar disorder,” but “the company’s sales force illegally promoted Zyprexa for uses not approved by the” FDA, including “dementia, Alzheimer’s, agitation, and depression,” he added.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a four-year investigation by the state revealed that “1,769 Utah Medicaid patients over age 65 took Zyprexa without the proper diagnosis.” David Sundwall, executive director of Utah’s Department of Health, said “the state’s Zyprexa tab totaled $11 million since 2007.”
The investigation also showed that “Lilly concealed its knowledge of significant weight gain and obesity associated with the antipsychotic,” the Deseret News reports. Shurtleff said that “as part of the settlement agreement, there are corporate integrity responsibilities and remedial provisions that will continue to be monitored by the court.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
