Alaska sued Eli Lilly to recover the Medicaid funds Alaska spent to treat the side effects of Lilly's drug Zyprexa.
Alaska claimed that Lilly failed to properly report that Zyprexa could cause hyperglycemia and diabetes. Alaska also asserted that Lilly failed to inform doctors of the risk of these side effects, and instructed Lilly representatives to deny the link between Zyprexa and diabetes.
Based on these allegations, Alaska asserted claims of fraud, negligence, products liability, negligent misrepresentation, failure to warn, and violation of Alaska's Unfair Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act.
According to Lilly, Zyprexa was created for serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia and biopolar disorder, with a better side effect profile than the alternative treatments. All prescription medicines have side effects, said Lilly, and Zyprexa's side effects were justified by the benefits. Zyprexa's label was approved by the FDA, and label changes would not have resulted in less usage. Finally, according to Lilly, no doctors in Alaska were tricked, fooled, or deceived by the label. In fact, Alaska still had not restricted its use.
The case settled before closing argument.
Settled
Description | Attorney | Witness | Presence | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
00:00:10 | General Case Activities | Allen, T. Scott | In Person | |||
00:07:40 | Opening Statement | Allen, T. Scott | In Person | |||
02:17:10 | Opening Statement | In Person |