August 28, 2008

More Seroquel Lawsuits Filed, Allegations Risks Were Downplayed

According to the Pittsburgh Press-Gazette, five lawsuits were filed in federal court yesterday in Pittsburgh against AstraZeneca, makers of the atypical antipsychotic Seroquel.

"The lawsuits claim negligence, fraud and intentional misrepresentation. 'The marketing and promotion efforts of AstraZeneca, through its advertisers and sales force, overstated the benefits of Seroquel and minimized, downplayed and concealed the risks associated with this drug,' the lawsuits contend."

None of the various lawsuits against AZ over Seroquel have gone to trial yet and none have been settled. It'll sure be interesting to see how all of this plays out, given that Lilly, makers of Zyprexa, have already settled about $1.3 billion in suits and could be looking at several billion dollars more to settle remaining class action lawsuits, state lawsuits (such as Arkansas' and Montana's) and federal claims. One prior estimate pegged AZ's potential liability at about $10 billion.

And yet the FDA is on the verge of approving this drug for depression and anxiety. Nice.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at August 28, 2008 12:07 AM
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It continues to amaze me that so few State AG's have actually pursued litigation. It continues to dishearten me that relatively few mental health consumers who were injured by taking Zyprexa have sought redress given the widespread use of this drug, its association with diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and that many consumers are poor.


In the putative age of mental health consumer empowerment one has to wonder what is actually being empowered. Sadly, it does seem to be that the empowerment being represented actually continues to reflect the learned helplessness that the system often fosters. What Pat Risser refers to as the three C's - complacency, compliance and conformity.


Will the same be true with Seroquel and AZ?

Posted by: Joe at August 28, 2008 08:37 AM

I don't understand the previous comment about people with mental health problems who got diabetes or died from Zyprexa not following through. Thirty thousand people did...though, unfortunately most got caught up in large, class action suits and received miniscule compensation. As far as I know, there has not been one trial against Lilly for death due to Zyprexa, following a similar pattern with Prozac in which Lilly would pay off a plaintiff at the last minute rather than risk the bad PR a court case might bring. I think the lawyers who scooped up megabucks on the large class actions should have sleepless nights for not seeking individual, embarassing, shameful, and revealing court cases. This was never presented as an option.

Posted by: Mystery at August 28, 2008 02:55 PM

Philip,
You're trying hard to prevent Seroquel being prescribed for children.
I hope some of you
HEAR IT!

Posted by: Ana at August 28, 2008 03:27 PM

Ooops!
By you HEAR IT i mean

YOU WHO ARE about to APPROVE and PRESCRIBE.


i believe they are death

Posted by: Ana at August 28, 2008 03:31 PM

I'm not handling this well. I have just realized how bad Seroquel is, and I went on http://www.theroadback.org/

I went to the store and bought the nutritional supplements mentioned on the above website. I'm going to try, again, to go off Seroquel. I can't cope well with this at all. I did not realize there are lawsuits against the drug companies for this Seroquel, and I feel completely stuck on it. Either I stay on it and die soon from it's side effects, or I go off and go completely insane, unless it will eventually, one day, be out of my system, and possibly, I'll go back to normal. I can't die as young as I am. I can't miss out on anymore life zombied on this Seroquel. I'm so frantic now that I've read the dangers of it. I didn't realize this and have been on it for 15 years. God help! but I'm trying to use supplements this time when I go off it.

Go to http://www.theroadback.org/ I'm having faith this site's suggestion of certain supplements will make it easier to go off Seroquel.

:(

Posted by: megan at August 30, 2008 02:26 PM

Megan, Have you thought of tapering gradually and adding diet and meditation.Dr Lee-bloem www.the holisticpsychiatrist.com seems to have a good approach.I was able over 5 yrs(difficult years) to cut the typical (Flanxol) i had been on for 12 years almost continuously to 90%.My decision for safety reasons as I was quite ill is to keep
a miniscule amount in my system.Mention this to your doctor.the usual advice is to keep medical advice in the picture if you can be asssertive enough to push through for change.I felt 5 years ago like you that my "life" as I appreciate it was at risk.

Bluebird

Posted by: diane abus at August 31, 2008 04:47 PM
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