An article in The New York Times says that Lilly is considering a $1 billionsettlement of a four-year federal investigation into Zyprexa marketing, but thecompany cast doubt on the Times’reporting.
The settlement would be the largest ever for a federal caseinvolving illegal marketing practices by a pharmaceutical firm, the Times piece said. Lilly is alleged to have promoted thedrug, which is approved for treatment of schizophrenia and severe bipolardisorder, for use in patients suffering from mild bipolar disorder andage-related dementia.
In a statement, the company acknowledged receipt of a grandjury subpoena from the Office of the US Attorney for the Eastern District ofPennsylvania seeking documents related to Zyprexa, but cautioned, “know that wedisagree with many speculative statements contained in the article in the Times.”
Lilly, the statement said, “is committed to promoting ourmedications only for approved uses and consistent with all federal and statelaws. We disagree with any allegations or suggestions to the contrary.” Thefirm is cooperating with state and federal investigations, the statementcontinued, and as part of that, regularly has discussions with the government,but has “no intention of sharing those discussions with the news media, and itwould be speculative and irresponsible for anyone to do so.”
The company has already set aside $1.2 billion to settlelawsuits from patients claiming that the weight gain associated with the drugcaused them to develop diabetes or other ailments. Lilly has settled more than25,000 claims related to Zyprexa. Another 1,100 remain unsettled.
