Internal documents unsealed as part of a lawsuit against Eli Lilly are alleged to show that the company hired ghostwriters to prepare articles about Zyprexa (olanzapine) for submission to medical journals, Bloomberg reported. Ensuring that the articles presented study data for the antipsychotic drug in a positive light was one approach for the drugmaker to reach it sales targets, Eli Lilly officials said, according to the unsealed documents.

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The files were made public as part of litigation by insurers and pension funds that are seeking up to $6.8 billion in damages over claims that Eli Lilly downplayed health risks associated with Zyprexa and marketed the drug for off-label uses. Eli Lilly has appealed a ruling in the case by a district court judge, who in September found “sufficient evidence of fraud” against the company and allowed the insurers and other payers to proceed with a class action lawsuit.

Commenting on the news, company spokesperson Marni Lemons said that “plaintiffs are releasing one-sided, cherry-picked documents obtained in discovery to selected news media in an effort to try their cases.” She added that Eli Lilly “remains prepared to defend [itself] against all of these allegations in…a court of law.” Lemons declined to comment specifically about the practice of ghostwriting.

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Separately, Bloomberg reported that the unsealed documents included information that is alleged to demonstrate that Eli Lilly marketed Zyprexa off-label for use by elderly patients with dementia as early as 1999, even though it was aware at that time of study data showing the drug did not alleviate symptoms of the condition in this population. As part of a $1.42-billion settlement reached with the US government earlier this year, Eli Lilly pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge regarding its promotion of Zyprexa between 1999 and 2001 for the treatment of elderly patients with dementia. The settlement resolved civil suits and ended a federal criminal investigation into past marketing practices for Zyprexa.

Source: FirstWord

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