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Poison Watch Title: Documents Show Eli Lilly Lied about Zyprexa The New York Times is calling for congressional hearings after the revelations that Eli LillyDocumented evidence reveal that Eli Lilly glossed over the debilitating hazards of Zyprexa--and aggressively marketed it to primary care physicians. Noting the documented evidence spelled out in Alex Berenson's report about the revelations contained in Eli Lilly's secret documents about the hazards of Zyprexa and the company's gloss over them, the The New York Times is calling for congressional hearings. The fact is, this drug causes far greater health hazards than drugs that have been pulled from the market--yet Zyprexa is still being marketed. It is marketed not only for schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder--for which it was approved-- but this drug is being widely prescribed for children and the elderly. The drug poses life-threatening risks that neither prescribing physicians nor patients are informed about. The documented debilitating adverse effects of this drug: >From its date of approval to July 1999, there were 7,193 spontaneous Adverse Event Reports involving impaired metabolic function, abnormal blood / sugar, and hyperglycemia and diabetes melitus; Following an aggressive marketing campaign (2000) to primary care physicians, by 2002, there were 31,024 spontaneous reports involving 16,113 cases of such serious adverse events. Those voluntarily submitted reports comprise but a small fraction of actual events. As the government funded CATIE study demonstrated that none of the new neuroleptics--of which Zyprexa is the biggest seller--have any demonstrable benefits greater than the old, cheap neuroleptics. The science and the moral medical principle leave no doubt that this harm producing drug should be removed from the market. Below see letter to The Times Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav veracare@ahrp.orgThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/opinion/19tue2.html THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL December 19, 2006 Playing Down the Risks of a Drug It was bad enough when studies showed that the newest and most heavily promoted drugs for treating schizophrenia weren't worth their high cost. Now the disturbing tale of their excessive use has taken a tawdry turn with revelations that Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical giant, has consistently played down the risks of its best-selling antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, and has promoted it for unapproved uses. The details were spelled out in The Times this week by Alex Berenson, who drew on hundreds of internal Lilly documents that have surfaced in legal proceedings. Although Lilly says the documents present an inaccurate picture, they offer persuasive evidence that the company engaged in questionable behavior to prop up its best-selling drug, which creates almost 30 percent of Lilly's revenue. Zyprexa belongs to a class of drugs that were billed as a significant advance over the first generation of antipsychotic drugs but turned out to have serious flaws. Zyprexa, for example, has a tendency to raise blood sugar and to promote obesity, both of which are risk factors for diabetes. Some 30 percent of the patients taking Zyprexa gain 22 pounds or more after a year on the drug, with some gaining 100 pounds or more. Yet the documents show that Lilly encouraged its sales representatives to play down these adverse effects when talking to doctors. The documents also show that Lilly encouraged primary care physicians - far less sophisticated than psychiatrists in treating mental illness - to prescribe the drug for older patients with symptoms of dementia even though it was approved only for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is illegal for companies to promote drugs for unapproved uses, but nearly every major drug company is under civil or criminal investigation for alleged efforts to do so. Lilly contends that it has never promoted Zyprexa for unapproved uses and has always shown its marketing materials to the Food and Drug Administration, as required by law. Both claims ought to be tested in Congressional hearings that should focus on how well the industry complies with existing laws and how effectively the F.D.A. regulates the industry's marketing materials. FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (C ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.
Poster Comment: In my opinion Eli Lilly is an evil corporation. They should be destroyed with boycotts and other methods.
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