Yet another state is suing Lilly over its conduct in marketing Zyprexa. This time, it’s Utah, which becomes the eighth state to accuse of the drugmaker of hiding side effect risks - weight gain and developing diabetes - while conducting off-label marketing.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff alleges the state was misled by a marketing “blitz,” while paying for patients who received the drug through Medicaid. Among the maladies for which he says Lilly pushed Zyprexa was Tourette’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s, anorexia, autism and geriatric dementia. The drug was never approved by the FDA to treat those illnesses.

“Lilly had actual knowledge or acted either in deliberate ignorance or in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the risks involved in consuming Zyprexa. Furthermore, since 1998 Lilly had actual knowledge of studies and scholarly articles linking the use of Zyprexa with these and other serious diseases,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed earlier today.

“Lilly misrepresented this association and failed to appropriately warn consumers, including the state, its physicians and Medicaid recipients of the dangerous and permanent health consequences linked to the use of Zyprexa. Lilly thus placed profits ahead of the safety of its customers.”

Utah also charges Lilly devised a marketing scheme to assist the state’s Medicaid program in monitoring antipsychotic prescriptions, although the real goal was to increase Zyprexa sales. As a result, the state “inappropriately paid for Zyprexa prescriptions for off-label uses which were not medically necessary.”

“Utah has paid millions of dollars for inappropriate and medically unnecessary doses of Zyprexa. As a result, Lilly has been illegally enriched at the expense of the state,” the lawsuit said. The state is seeking civil damages and penalties, including $5,000 to $10,000 for each prescription that was “not medically necessary.”

Seven other states have filed similar lawsuits: Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. And other states are expected to follow. Interest is also being sparked by data showing Zyprexa and other antipsychotics are being prescribed in large numbers to children, even though these drugs were never approved for youngsters.

(Pharmalot has seen the lawsuit and a link will be provided as soon as possible).

Further reading…
A post earlier today on Pharmalot about scrips for kids;
A story about Montana filing its lawsuit.

[tags]Eli Lilly, Off-Label Marketing, Utah, Zyprexa[/tags]