Eli Lilly pleads guilty in marketing case
Eli Lilly & Co. pleaded guilty yesterday to a criminal count of illegally marketing its powerful antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, in a settlement that the federal government said would "send a message to Eli Lilly employees that they need to respect the law, not break it."
Eli Lilly & Co. pleaded guilty yesterday to a criminal count of illegally marketing its powerful antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa, in a settlement that the federal government said would "send a message to Eli Lilly employees that they need to respect the law, not break it."
The guilty plea in federal court in Philadelphia had been expected since earlier this month, when the Indianapolis company agreed to a settlement that also included a $1.4 billion fine.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia had charged Lilly with illegally promoting Zyprexa to treat dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the elderly.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Zyprexa to treat only schizophrenia and some types of bipolar disorder, relatively rare diseases. Drug companies cannot promote products for unapproved uses, but doctors can prescribe as they see fit.
Lilly created marketing materials with pictures of confused elderly people to convince doctors that Zyprexa could help such patients. Zyprexa was known to cause weight gain that could lead to diabetes, and recent research has shown that the drug and others like it increase an older person's chances of dying sooner.
Lilly had "interfered with the doctor-patient relationship and was misleading to doctors," U.S. District Judge Robert Kelly said.
Catherine Votaw and Jeffrey Steger, lawyers for the federal government, said Lilly had undermined FDA processes intended to ensure safe drug use. They noted that this was Lilly's second offense. In 2005, the company agreed to pay $36 million for marketing its osteoporosis drug, Evista, for unapproved uses.
