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Utah snags $24M in drug settlement

November 13, 2009

A four-year investigation into a pharmaceutical giant’s alleged off-label marketing of an anti-psychotic drug has earned a $24 million settlement for Utah.

 

“This isn’t just about money,” Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Wednesday. “The victims were those who could least afford health care.”

 

The Food and Drug Administration had approved Zyprexa’s use for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. But, Utah investigators say, Eli Lilly’s sales force had been encouraging, since 1999, doctors to prescribe the drug for dementia, Alzheimer’s, agitation, aggression, hostility, depression and generalized sleep disorders.

 

“The thing that was remarkable was how vigorously it was promoted and how much we spent in our Utah Medicaid program” — the state’s Zyprexa tab totaled $11 million since 2007, said David Sundwall, executive director of Utah’s Department of Health.

 

“There aren’t that many psychotic people in Utah,” Sundwall said, noting there was clear documentation of the drug’s overuse and misuse.

 

Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune

 

Posted By: Arizona Phoenix Attorneys for Accidents Involving Dangerous Products

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