The state of Alaska is suing Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) for failing to disclose health risks (like diabetes and weight gain) allegedly associated with Lilly's hugely profitable "atypical antipsychotic" drug Zyprexa. Last week, attorneys for the state rested their case, at which point the lawyers for Eli Lilly asked the Judge to dismiss the case, saying that the matter was one for the Food and Drug Administration, and not for individual states.
The Judge disagreed, and refused to dismiss the case, offering an opinion from the bench as to the FDA's ability to police drug safety. Here's how the Anchorage Daily News described it:
Without lawsuits like the one the State of Alaska brought against Lilly, claims that drugs cause health problems "might well go unaddressed," Anchorage Superior Court Judge Mark Rindner said from the bench this week.The jury was out of the room. The state had just rested. Lilly asked the judge to issue an immediate verdict in its favor, a routine step at that point in a trial.
Rindner was reacting to an assertion by Lilly lawyer George Lehner that drug regulation is a matter for the federal Food and Drug Administration, not any state. Alaska's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act shouldn't apply to drugs, Lehner told the judge.
Rindner disagreed. Evidence presented by the state over the past two weeks established that the FDA "isn't capable of policing this matter," he said.
This isn't the first time that a Judge addressing allegedly illegal Zyprexa marketing by Eli Lilly has dismissed the notion that the FDA was adequate to ensure that Zyprexa was safe and properly marketed. As we reported back in June 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinstein, soundly rejected this notion in refusing to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought by consumers and health plans (including PAL coalition member Sergeants Benevolent Association Health and Welfare Fund. That case alleges that Eli Lilly illegally and improperly promoted Zyprexa for "off-label" uses, that is, uses that the FDA has not approved as safe and effective. In his ruling (available here), Judge Weinstein said:
“Under the present organization of the pharmaceutical industry, the official federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the plaintiffs’ bar, the courts are arguably in the strongest position to effectively enforce appropriate standards protecting the public from fraudulent merchandising of drugs.” (Opinion, pp. 3-4)
And he went on...
“Allowing this and like suits to proceed may or may not increase the cost of pharmaceuticals and the efficacy of medical treatment in this country. It does, however, furnish backstop protection against under-regulated potentially dangerous activity by a market where caveat emptor largely rules.” (Opinion, p. 12)
What happens in the Alaska case will be closely watched, as 9 other states have similar lawsuits against Eli Lilly. A potentially incriminating email in which a Lilly vice president appears to advocate marketing Zyprexa for off-label purchases was revealed in the Alaska trial several weeks ago, the New York Times reported on March 14, 2008 (Lilly E-Mail Discussed Off-Label Drug Use). As Alex Berenson of the Times reported:
In the message, Dr. Lechleiter, who was then the company’s executive vice president for pharmaceutical products, noted to other Lilly officials that company representatives were already promoting Strattera, a second Lilly psychiatric drug, to pediatricians and child psychiatrists. The representatives could also discuss Zyprexa with such doctors, he said.“The fact we are now talking to child psychs and peds and others about Strattera means that we must seize the opportunity to expand our work with Zyprexa in this same child-adolescent population,” Dr. Lechleiter wrote in the message. He also encouraged Lilly to get data on the use of Zyprexa in treating “disruptive kids” in order to increase the drug’s sales.
The Judge in the Alaska case refused to admit the email into evidence in the trial because that case does not concern off-label use. The email, however, is likely to be an issue in the off-label cases, such as the one before Judge Weinstein. In that case, Judge Weinstein will hear from both sides this week on a motion to certify the case as a national class action. These "class certification" motions are a vitally important stage in a class action case, as they determine whether or not the defendant (here, Eli Lilly) will face the claims of potentially millions of individuals and thousands of health plans.
These two Judges have acknowledged what by now is common knowledge: the FDA lacks both the resources (money, staff) and the political will to hold drug companies accountable and to force them to disclose safety risks associated with hugely profitable drugs. In the face of the FDA's abdication of its core mission, the Courts are a vital safety net to ensure that drug companies cannot rip off and injure consumers with impunity. In the past few years, vital information about dangerous drugs has come to light only through litigation (for more on this, see "The Role of Litigation in Defining Drug Risks," Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007; 297: 308-311)
To receive updates about the national Zyprexa class action that PAL members are involved in, as well as about other class actions concerning illegal marketing and pricing tactics by drug companies, fill out the form here. To learn more about the Zyprexa class action, go here.
Hat tip: Pharmalot