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The Times Argus
Vermont spent millions on suspect drug Zyprexa
March 28, 2008
By Daniel Barlow
MONTPELIER - As the lawsuits against Eli Lilly over its top-selling
anti-schizophrenia drug Zyprexa began piling up in 2006, Vermont's
state-run insurance program spent nearly $4 million on the drug,
according to documents.
That amount may seem like a drop in the bucket when compared to
Zyprexa's 2007 sales of $4.8 billion in the United States, but the
payments through Vermont's Medicaid program came at a time when 10
states and upwards of 30,000 people were suing the company over the
drug.
Launched in 1996, Zyprexa has become the top-selling medication for
drug-maker Eli Lilly. But those sales are dropping as lawsuits and
leaked corporate documents reveal a decade-long effort to downplay the
side effects, including weight gain and an increased chance of diabetes,
in the company's promotion of the drug.
Just this week the state of Alaska, population 670,000, settled its
lawsuit against Eli Lilly for $15 million over what it claimed were
increased Medicaid costs due to health problems associated with taking
Zyprexa. That was the first state to settle with the company in the
lawsuits.
Vermont is not one of the states now suing Eli Lilly. But on Thursday,
the Vermont Association for Mental Health, a Montpelier-based advocacy
organization, urged the state to pursue that legal option. Executive
Director Ken Libertoff said this case was a "sad commentary" on the
influence of the pharmaceutical industry.
While it may not be suing Eli Lilly, Vermont is investigating how the
company marketed its drug to doctors and others here, according to Julie
Brill, Vermont's assistant attorney general. She said the state
subpoenaed marketing materials and internal company documents detailing
its marketing plan in January 2007.
Brill said that inquiry is still on-going and she was mum on further
details. She said she did not know when more informa-tion on their
investigation could be made available to the public.
"We do have an ongoing consumer protection investigation," she said.
More here:
http://tmap.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/vermont-spent-millions-on-suspect-d
rug-zyprexa/
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