Today's goodie!

"Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry:

A Closer Look" Blog

Let the Lawsuits Fly

From a press release from Prescription Access Litigation...

A U.S. District Court judge today issued a decision
allowing to go forward a class action lawsuit that alleged that Eli
Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) fraudulently marketed the atypical
antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, for uses not approved by the FDA. Judge Jack B. Weinstein, of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of NY, denied Eli Lilly’s motion for summary judgment, as well as a summary judgment motion filed by the plaintiffs.

The 14-page order highlighted the importance of the Courts in protecting the public in the arena of prescription drugs. The Judge stated:

"Under the present organization of the pharmaceutical industry, the official federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
and the plaintiffs' bar, the courts are arguably in the strongest
position to effectively enforce appropriate standards protecting the
public from fraudulent merchandising of drugs." (Opinion, pp. 3-4)

The entirety of the judge's latest ruling can be seen here. This is a potentially big story, but I have little time to discuss it now. Maybe later...

Okay, MY preliminary comments.

1. But clearly, the legal department at Eli Lilly DID approve these uses. They knew that they could, and probably would, get sued after extending past the FDA approved uses. This rises three points:

What kinds of lawyers are these ..?

I have posted about the head of their legal department previously.

How big are the financial rewards that they are getting that they would risk this kind of hideous exposure of their moral bankruptcy ..?

Afterall, the persons to whom they are illegally selling this drug are youth and old people, who in many cases were given NO CHOICE about whether to take it or not.

How did they drown out ALL voices of dissent about what was going on? Were they taking too much of their own medications ..?

2. There is the obvious question of who was watching The Watchers ..?

Why did the FDA not step in and cease all sales of the drug when clearly it was getting so obviously "over stepped" ...?

Why did it take the action of States suing to force this out into the open? We know now all about VIVE ZYPREXA, the Lilly sales forces' marketing plan, whereby each sales rep got bonuses for coming up with new "ideas" for uses and exceeding sales expectations. But were they wining and dining the FDA, right along, too ..? How did this spiral become so out of control? What procedures are in place to stop this total madness?

This so clearly went outside THE LAW. What is to prevent this happening with other toxic drugs? Who is watching out for vulnerable populations in this drive for ever larger profitability by Big Pharma ...? How badly do things have to get before something gets done?

3. What do the internal memos at Eli Lilly say about all this? I mean, surely, some scenario was drawn up about the pros and cons of this plan. Some "marketing genius" was in charge of seeing that happened. Do they take a test to ensure that each person coming into Lilly is psycopath/sociopath or what? The facts must have been available to someone in the organization before this legal decision came down.

The investigator in me wants to know, what were they THINKING!!??

4. Will investors finally stop investing in this company?

I don't know the portfolio turnover ratio on LLY stock, but I know MY MONEY wouldn't be invested in this gang of drug mobsters!

5. Will doctors finally wise up?

They, and they alone, enjoy a patient/doctor confidentiality that is cause for grave concern. If you can't trust your own doctor to be wise and willing to NOT engage in the use of medications that are definitely harmful, who CAN you trust? This is particuarly true when your MENTAL HEALTH is under the weather.

Why go to a doctor at all if they refuse to consider the potential harm a mis-prescription can cause? I hope that all those free golf shirts and other momentos of time spent with Lilly sales reps made at least THEM feel better about themselves. But I'll bet a whole mess of freebies and so on have made their way from medical offices and homes into landfills FINALLY. Too guilt inducing to look at Lilly bootie these days.

I have one fine doctor; many do not. And she helped me get my son OFF zyprexa, prescribed by a Big Institutional doctor, using a SAFE protocol. We came up with a great "get off zyprexa" plan. But NOT before his heart gave out. As I sat in the emergency room (hoping he would live through what was happening), I thought not one of the doctors and nurses who prescribed and/or administered this drug were present to have a look at their handiwork.

I did not wait and sit around TRUSTING my son's doctor - I went in and complained about my son's prescribtion to the prescribing MD, and said I do not want to worry about my son's losing one limb, then another limb, and then another while on this drug. three months before he was hospitalized with hypertension and a (covered up) stroke.

She told me that was better than his current symptomology. That was untrue then, and it's untrue NOW. The truth is the truth. That drug had us both "paranoid". - for good reason. Any person raising the truth about this drug was psychopathologized by the medical profession who dished it out Will this stop now?

I still have scars from the "looks that kill" hostility this doctor blew my way ... just for the record.

She was WRONG. Can she still justify her position NOW?

6. Are we to be shocked when a decent ruling is made by a court?

This is the ONLY outcome this sad case could have, actually.

The widespread misapplication of zyprexa has become clear to anyone who has come close to it.

To my mind, what was shocking was to write to the NYT during their series on diabetes (their cause of last year) to inform that they were missing the OBVIOUS. The cases of advanced diabetes were in those taking antipsychotics for depression. They BECAME psychotic and incapable of self care AFTER their new prescriptions were in place. Now that the NYT has finally seen the light, it wasn't too long before the legal "pro"fession began to really act up about the zyprexa metabolic issue (still overlooking the heart effects issue, imho; it's still under the radar).

But where o where! are the articles about who prescribed this stuff?

Why isn't that shocking to them?

As is now OBVIOUS, a bunch of oblivious doctors, Lilly sales staff, lawyers and marketers worked long and hard to ensure a quality of life for themselves they did not want their "patients" to enjoy. The FDA stood "patiently" by.

So the Court has finally stood up and ruled that all this misapplication must cease. I would be shocked IF they had ruled any other way. And I will be shocked if MORE lawsuits are not filed. Soon. Right away.

Technorati Tags: zyprexa, Eli Lilly, public interest law, fraudulent marketing, Prescription Acess Litigation