Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Company for claims arising from Lilly’s sale and marketing of its antipsychotic prescription drug, Zyprexa®. The suit was filed in the State Circuit Court of Lafayette County, according to State of Mississippi Special Assistant Attorney General Tim Balducci of the Langston Law Firm in Booneville, Miss.
OXFORD, Miss. (PRWEB) July 27, 2006 -- Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Company for claims arising from Lilly’s sale and marketing of its antipsychotic prescription drug, Zyprexa®.
The suit was filed in the State Circuit Court of Lafayette County, according to State of Mississippi Special Assistant Attorney General Tim Balducci of the Langston Law Firm in Booneville, Miss.
Mississippi seeks to recover State funds expended through its Division of Medicaid to purchase Zyprexa® for what the suit claims were "non-medically accepted indications."
The suit also seeks to recover State funds spent in providing health care treatment to certain Medicaid recipients who the State claims suffered Zyprexa®-related injuries or illnesses such as diabetes. In addition, the suit seeks injunctive relief against Lilly.
Balducci said early estimates of the State’s purchasing claim suggest damages in the range of $30 million, and that the estimates of the State’s claim for diabetes care of Zyprexa® patients are much higher. The State will also seek civil penalties under the Mississippi Medicaid law, as well as punitive damages and litigation costs.
“Damages could well be in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Balducci said.
The suit claims that Lilly knew its drug, Zyprexa®, increased the risk to patients of contracting diabetes, yet failed to warn of the danger. The complaint states that in April, 2002, nearly a year and a half before it first warned of the risk of diabetes in the United States, Lilly changed Zyprexa®’s labeling in the United Kingdom and Japan to include warnings regarding the association between the use of Zyprexa® and diabetes-related injuries.
“The rapid growth of Zyprexa® sales in the State of Mississippi is primarily due to increased prescriptions by primary care physicians for non-medically accepted indications that are excluded from payment under the provisions of the Mississippi Medicaid Prescription Drug Program. The doctors are prescribing the drug for non-approved uses as a direct response to Lilly’s conduct in marketing the drug.
“As a result, Mississippi is spending millions of dollars on Zyprexa® for patients who are not indicated for the drug; and further, who are being harmed by it.
“Our investigation presently indicates that about 10% of those patients who have been prescribed Zyprexa® have subsequently developed insulin-dependent diabetes. Some of these patients are children, and Zyprexa® has never been approved for, nor found to be effective, in the treatment of children.”
The Mississippi lawsuit is Hood v. Eli Lilly and Co., No. L06-280, Circuit Court, Lafayette County, Mississippi (Oxford).
About The Langston Law Firm, P.A.
The Langston Law Firm, P.A., located in Booneville, Mississippi, is a leading national products liability and personal injury law firm. The firm has achieved fair compensation for thousands of clients who have suffered injuries resulting from defective medications and medical devices.
For more information on The Langston Law Firm, P.A. call 1-800-492-0362.
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