Zyprexa Suits To Be Settled
Eli Lilly announced last week that it will settle about three-quarters of the present liability clams stemming from its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug.
Lilly will establish a fund not to exceed $690 million for plaintiffs who agree to settle their claims. The number of claimants covered by the settlement is estimated to be 8,000, comprising about 75% of the claims.
The settlement will resolve the majority of Zyprexa claims pending in the U.S. That includes federal and state lawsuits against Lilly, the filed nationwide class actions, and about 5,000 additional claims that are subject to "tolling agreements," a legal procedure that allows cases to remain pending without regard to the running of the statute of limitations.
Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic medication taken by those diagnosed with schizophrenia, has been associated with serious side effects in patients, especially those who have already been diagnosed with diabetes. Some contend that the drug causes heart disease and high blood pressure with certain users.
Knowledge of the potential dangers of Zyprexa were discovered as a result of a series of findings beginning in 2001 when the FDA was alerted to 19 case reports of diabetes associated with the drug. Deaths of patients who had diabetes prior to taking the anti-psychotic medication also were reported at about the same time. It also was reported that there had been patients who lost consciousness or slipped into comas after taking the drug.
In April of 2003, the Wall Street Journal ran a front page article on Zyprexa and similar drugs with respect to their connection to cases of Type 2 Diabetes ("adult onset diabetes").
The authors of the Wall Street Journal article estimated that somewhere around 11 million people have taken Zyprexa. An eight-year study found that nearly 300 patients developed diabetes, 75 became seriously ill, and 23 died. In addition to the Wall Street Journal article, lawsuits were filed against Eli Lilly and Co. accusing the company of failing to warn Zyprexa patients of the risk that Zyprexa caused the patients' diabetes.