And when, pray tell, will we get this drug RECALLED ... !!!!!?????


$700M Zyprexa deal OK'd by judge

Payments in Lilly's liability settlement could be coming soon

By Jeff Swiatek
jeff.swiatek@indystar.com
A federal judge has given his blessing to Eli Lilly and Co.'s complex $700 million settlement with Zyprexa patients, who should see the money soon after lawyers and Medicare and Medicaid take their cuts.


Drug at issue:
Patients involved in the settlement alleged Lilly's schizophrenia drug Zyprexa caused diabetes-related symptoms, including weight gain and high blood sugar. - Darron Cummings / Associated Press
It's the largest liability settlement in the history of the Indianapolis drug company. And it could grow. Since the settlement was announced in June 2005, hundreds of additional complaints by Zyprexa patients have been filed against Lilly.
The judge's order includes two rulings favorable to the 8,362 claimants, many of whom are mentally ill. One order said state Medicaid agencies must pick up part of the tab for lawyers' fees, which means claimants won't bear the entire legal bill. The other prohibits those agencies from including the cost of Zyprexa pills in figuring their cut of the payouts to patients with Medicaid coverage.
The order by Judge Jack B. Weinstein, of federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., posted on the court's Web site Tuesday, is one of the last steps in carrying out the private settlement by Lilly to deal with thousands of lawsuits and potential lawsuits against it over its antipsychotic Zyprexa.
Patients alleged the schizophrenia drug, Lilly's best-selling product, caused diabetes-related symptoms, including weight gain and high blood-sugar levels.
Payments will range from $5,000 lump-sum awards to more than $100,000 per person.
A good chunk of the money, ranging from 10 percent to 20 percent in many cases, will be claimed by Medicare and Medicaid. The federal health programs contended they should be reimbursed for paying for Zyprexa- related health problems suffered by claimants who had coverage.
Plaintiffs' attorneys hired the Garretson Law Firm of Cincinnati to work out a model for paying state Medicaid agencies. It was the first time in a mass tort action that a 50-state Medicaid reimbursement plan was worked out before money was distributed, Garretson told the judge.
The state agencies stand to collect millions in the settlement, since 61 percent of claimants were Medicaid beneficiaries.
Weinstein capped attorneys' fees at 35 percent in most cases. The judge ordered attorneys to pay their clients within 21 days of receiving settlement checks from the New York bank where Lilly's money is deposited in an interest-bearing account.

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