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Lilly heads to Alaska court

Pharma Compliance Alert, March 5, 2008

FDA approval will be the lynchpin in Eli Lilly's defense of its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa in an Alaskan court room next week, the Indianapolis Star reports.

The state of Alaska filed a lawsuit in 2006, alleging Lilly did not to warn customers of the risks of Zyprexa. The original suit also included claims Lilly promoted Zyprexa for off-label uses, but a judge in Alaska dismissed those claims. At least eight other states have filed similar lawsuits.

According to the Star, Lilly plans to use the FDA's approval of Zyprexa's prescribing and safety information as the basis for its defense. Lilly also plans to question whether prosecutors should be able to penalize a company when physicians working for the state continue to prescribe Zyprexa every day for patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Lilly and the federal government are currently working out a deal to settle civil and criminal allegations relating to the promotion of Zyprexa. The settlement could be as high as $1 billion.

Lilly already paid $1.2 billion to settle 30,000 lawsuits from people who claim they developed diabetes or other diseases after taking Zyprexa.

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