Zyprexa Lawsuits Could Cost Eli Lilly $5 Billion
At the end of the day, Zyprexa lawsuits against Eli Lilly, over illegal marketing and their failure to warn about potentially life-threatening side effects, could cost the pharmaceutical company nearly $5 billion. However, with the drug still on the market, continuing to generate worldwide sales of over $4 billion every year, was this just a small cost of doing business?
Zyprexa (olanzapine), was approved by the FDA in 1996 for treatment of schizophrenia. The drug has also been widely used off-label for non-approved purposes, like treatment of anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorders and autism, making it a top seller for Eli Lilly.
In recent years, Eli Lilly has faced Zyprexa lawsuits filed by over 30,000 users who suffered diabetes and other injuries from the drug; claims from states, insurance companies and labor unions seeking reimbursement for the costs of the prescription and medical expenses for people who developed diabetes; and they have faced federal criminal investigations into their aggressive marketing of the drug for uses that were not approved by the FDA.
Lilly has been accused of withholding known information about Zyprexa diabetes side effects and encouraging off-label sales, which generated billions in profits, but violated state and federal laws.
Zyprexa settlements have already been reached that include payments of $1.2 billion for claims filed by consumers who were injured and another $1.42 billion to settle state and federal claims over their illegal sales practices.
In addition to the settled cases, at least 12 state Zyprexa lawsuits are still pending against Lilly claiming damages of another nearly $7 billion, which analysts estimate could cost the drug maker another $2 to $3 billion to settle, bringing the total cost of the Zyprexa litigation to around $5 billion.
While payments of $5 billion certainly hurt even a company the size of Eli Lilly & Co., when you consider the huge profits they have generated off of this dangerous drug and the money they will continue to earn in the future based on the popularity of the drug, you have to ask whether some bean counter somewhere inside the company is smiling about the results of their “strategy” to withhold risk information and fraudulently market the drug.
I am a 52 year old woman who for many years have been treated like a human “guinea-pig” in the mental health field. I suffer from Bi-Polor disorder, and Panic & Anxiety disorder. I was first diagnosed at the age of 28, when I fell apart emotionally just after loosing a baby in an emergency “ectopic-pregnancy” surgery, where the doctor’s removed one fallapion tube and one ovary. As I look back I probably just suffered an instant hormonal change of life…when I am now told by new mental health professionals that I might have been “mis-diagnosed” ! At that time I was an athletic-trim and healthy young woman, and now I am an obese 390 lb. TOXIC person, with so many aliments, too long to list! When I was first admitted at age 28 with my first nervous breakdown after loosing that baby, I was over-medicated in a county-run Hospital in Northern California, and was given enough Haldol and Thorizine to almost kill me! My family did not even recgonize me, my face blew up 3x the size. And now over the years, after many hospitalizations, and 5150′s for going off my meds… I have been forced to take almost every kind of harmful drug including>Zyprexa,Seroquel,.Darvon…you name it! I also was given 2 or 3 MRI’s with the dyes…so I can now be a “poster-woman” for all the legal lawsuits! I suffer from very painful muscle and joint pain, insomnia,constant weight gain and bloating, eye problems, itchy red skin, I cannot lift up my arms past my waist. I get dizzy when I look down, I have lost alot of my memory, I cannot concentrate, I now grind my teeth, and my hair, teeth and nails are falling off…etc!!! I use to be this very athletic outdoorsy sporty woman, and now I am allergic to almost everything, including food. I have urinary problems too. But, as of last Blood Test/no diabetes!
My late beloved husband was killed by Zyprexa. His doctor gave him samples out of his office for my beloved husband’s bi-polar condition. My beloved husband was only thirty-five when he passed away. He was a strong healthy man until he came down with the sudden onset of fatal type 1 diabetes, sudden onset of pancreatitis, ketoacidosis, and his triglyceride count went out of the roof. His blood sugar went to 1800. His physicians in the ICU had me sign papers to amputate his hands. Fortunately, this did not happen. He did have kidney dialysis and a blood transfusion. He could not talk for the last three days of his life so we could not communicate. My husband had no history of alcoholism nor did he or his family have any history of diabetes. Nobody should ever have to go through what my late beloved husband and I went through? Horrible Zyprexa has to be taken off the market NOW!!!
I took Zyprexa in 1/2009- just one dose and I went crazy. i started running around the hospital, my eyes bugged out my head, I saw hallucinations, I felt like there were fire works in my brain and muscle twitches. I still have the twitches almost a year later. If anyone knows of a current suit against Zyprexa please let me know. I am having trouble find ones that aren’t closed. I live in ohio. thanks