May 21, 2008Arkansas Sues AstraZeneca Over Seroquel For Illegal Marketing And FraudUPDATED: 1:48 p.m. PST with AZ's response. Arkansas State AG Dustin McDaniel yesterday brought suit against AstraZeneca for illegal marketing and fraud, among other charges, in its sales of Seroquel to various agencies in the State. The suit, which somewhat echoes a lawsuit filed by McDaniel last fall against Janssen/J&J over its handling of Risperdal, another atypical antipsychotic, alleges that the company knew of risks associated with the use of the drug, primarily diabetes and weight gain, but did not properly warn physicians or the public. McDaniel alleges that the drug was unreasonably hazardous and dangerous. Jim Minnick, a spokesman for AstraZeneca, responded to the suit in an email. "AstraZeneca denies the allegations brought by these lawyers. Seroquel has helped millions of people suffering from a variety of debilitating mental illnesses, and allowed them to lead meaningful lives. AstraZeneca will vigorously defend itself in this lawsuit." The lawsuit is online here (1.5 MB .pdf). There are several stinging accusations in the lawsuit, which primarily focuses on promotion of the drug for use in children and the elderly. Not that the state is ignoring accusations for how the drug may have been aimed at people diagnosed with schizophrenia. "Seroquel's premarketing clinical trials did not support an assertion that it was less likely to cause extra pyramidal symptoms than traditional antipsychotics....Defendant's trials were designed to produce similar rates of EPS in patients sorted into placebo groups and those taking Seroquel." And concerning diabetes and hyperglycemia: "[T]hey implemented marketing strategies that blamed diabetes and hyperglycemia on the schizophrenic population at large rather than on Seroquel...despite the fact that defendant's own internal studies and adverse event data revealed that Seroquel increased the risk of diabetes, even among schizophrenics." Among other things, the suit alleges that the company sought ghostwritten research and paid thought leaders to support AZ's marketing aims, that AZ failed to reveal material facts about hypotension and cataracts, that AZ knew the drug to be unreasonably hazardous and dangerous, that it illegally marketed Seroquel for use in children and elderly and for depression and other psychological conditions, that the company engaged in an "elaborate and clandestine promotion of Seroquel for non medically necessary uses," that AZ engaged in "illegal direct solicitation of physicians." In addition to recovering costs of care for people who developed diabetes and other injuries, the state is seeking an injunction against AZ to stop its off label marketing of the drug. I reported earlier today that the state had also sued Eli Lilly over Zyprexa. A spokesman for the AG tells me that that was an erroneous media report in Arkansas and that the state has not yet sued Lilly. Posted by Philip Dawdy at May 21, 2008 11:00 AM
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"Seroquel has helped millions of people suffering from a variety of debilitating mental illnesses, and allowed them to lead meaningful lives." Jim Minnick, a jokerman for AstraZeneca Posted by: Ana at May 21, 2008 02:42 PM"Seroquel has helped millions of people suffering from a variety of debilitating mental illnesses, and allowed them to lead meaningful lives. AstraZeneca will vigorously defend itself in this lawsuit." 1. Where's the substantial proof Seroquel has helped millions of people? Could it be the spokesperson has sales $$ confused with the word "help"? 2. AstraZeneca will defend itself vigorously. That right there makes the entire point. It's all about the company, and it's reputation and bottom line. I would like to know how many millions of people have written in to confirm that "helped" comment. Oh please, the canned answers are pre-printed on these guys foreheads backwards so when they look in the mirror it's memorized every day. (as a person who used Seroquel which caused suffering and withdrawals, he can remove my stat from his dollar figures). I won't EVER use it again. Posted by: Stephany at May 21, 2008 03:33 PMDearest Philip: What can I say? I'll just let my lawyers deal with these _________ greed mongers. I do have to admit that at my new job they allow drug reps free excess. Every time I see one, I get a very strong impulse to drag them outside and beat the cr-- out of them {laughing}. I know that is not the most rational or proper way to deal with this situation. But I am human sort of, and this stuff bothers me at my very core primal level (pounds chest and grunts {laughing}. Yours Truly These state Attorneys General write themselves some beautiful prose in smackdown mode. What a lovely little book that would make. Posted by: flawedplan at May 21, 2008 09:07 PMYes, the smackdown mode applies here FP; and Stan, one of the last time(s) I stood in the lobby of a psych ward(summer/fall 07)was w /an AZ rep, and he didn't get the "key me up the elevator to see the psych doc" status.but hell if there wasn't a "How to treat Borderline" seminar on the hallway staff board! i asked the guy,"from AZ?" "yeah". and he walked out w/out an appointment to the same parking lot i did.only he was defeated.not me. Posted by: Stephany at May 24, 2008 10:15 PMPost a comment
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