Eli Lilly's Marketing Fraud And Ghostwriting Scandal

Drug companies are notorious for their relentless marketing. But, Eli Lilly, the century-old pharmaceutical giant, has taken things several steps further. In fact, Bloomberg called out Lilly's marketing and promotion practices twice this week.

According to company documents, Lilly pushed doctors to give the antipyschotic drug Zyprexa to elderly patients with dementia, despite medical evidence that the drug didn't help those patients.

And, earlier this week, Bloomberg pointed out that Lilly actually ghostwrote scholarly articles about their drugs, and asked doctors to put their names on them. The drug maker Merck also did this for dozens of articles over its now-pulled Vioxx medication.

The attention, however, had little effect on Lilly's stock this week.

News of Lilly's marketing shenanigans comes at time when it spent $3.4 million lobbying Congress in the first quarter of this year. The Indianapolis-based company has publicly opposed the concept of a government-run health plan in the U.S.

Lilly's promotion of Zyprexa for dementia went against no less than seven reputable medical studies. Called "off-label promotion," the practice of marketing drugs for purposes not backed by science has come under increasing scrutiny by the Department of Justice. Lily has already paid $1.4 billion in a recent settlement over Zyprexa. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and GlaxoSmithKline have all paid millions in fines in similar cases.

Bloomberg wrote:

"The studies found death rates among older dementia patients taking Zyprexa were "significantly greater" than those who didn't get the medicine, the company said, according to the unsealed documents.


Plaintiffs are releasing one-sided, cherry-picked documents obtained in discovery to selected news media in an effort to try their cases in the media,' said Lilly spokeswoman Marni Lemons, who added that the company will fight the lawsuit. She declined to answer specific questions about the studies."

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Comments

[jalowe1957]

Does anyone remember when Eli Lilly took a red Prozac capsule, colored it purple, and transformed it into a prescription drug for a pre-menstrual condition named Sarafem?

I called it for what it really was: a neuroleptic drag queen.

That was a textbook case of Eli Lilly pushing prescription drugs on unsuspecting consumers.

Life and our health care costs would be a lot less expensive if they just outlaw prescription drug advertising over our nation's airwaves, as they did with cigarettes.

[Moxo]

According to company documents, Lilly pushed doctors to give the antipyschotic drug Zyprexa to elderly patients with dementia, despite medical evidence that the drug didn't help those patients.
-------------

Now if a Government health care program did this... the GOP would be up in arms.

But when a corporation does.. No Problem!

[roger54]

Take back the trillions of $$$ given to the banks, who just sit on it and make it totally ineffective then start government incentive to create realistic industries that give employment and generate real productive income, some of which would hopefully be from exports.

Every other country, especially China and most of Europe have goverment incentives to protect it's industries. No matter what you call it it's a form of protectionism and its inevitable. We should stop being naive and take care of our own house. The only ones who win if we don't are the multinational corporations who don't care where they get their hand out.

good articles for a slow news day: http://www.bit.ly/12NCJR/12NCJR>Econ & Finance Articles Updated Daily

[brandnewstuff]

Reminds me of the movie The Fugtive- about how EVIL Drug Companies are - willing to kill lie cheat and steal......................................

[emerywood]

Not only should Big Pharma not be allowed to push medications for conditions that they are ineffective,
no new medications should be allowed to come to market unless they are more effective than existing
ones. Bombarding the public with daily TV ads of Viagra, Cialis and other anti-impotent medications
serves no purpose from the medical standpoint. Save the money spent and lower the prices of the
drugs would do the public more good.

[Antifascist-08]

Greed is good?

[Weirdwriter]

Quelle surprise.

[NevaforLeadership]

Outrageous.

To add to the diseases and syndromes they are now creating in order to market their drugs.

We can all fight back without a word. Just commit to a health and fitness makeover: quit smoking, lose weight if necessary, exercise every day and eat healthy foods. Those steps, alone, will eat into sales of drugs for chronic and aging diseases big time.

When I see drugs advertised as if they are the latest cosmetics that we need to rush out and get, it makes me sick.

[walsenberg]

Yes, outrageous is right!

Even though your advice to lessen the chance of an illness is well meant, there is something that makes me wonder if you reallly think that is the be all answer. People who do all the right things still get diseases....

The power of these pharmaceutical companies need to be halted.

The amount of drugs given to elderly patients in skilled nursing facilities (formally called convalescent homes) is criminal. Many, many of these patients are on over 20 drugs each day several times a day - add this up by all the SNF's in the USA and all the patients that are on these drugs - criminal.

[gemzenith]

If they were selling weed it sure would be different.

[5hy56]

Take back the trillions of $$$ given to the banks, who just sit on it and make it totally ineffective then start government incentive to create realistic industries that give employment and generate real productive income, some of which would hopefully be from exports.

Every other country, especially China and most of Europe have goverment incentives to protect it's industries. No matter what you call it it's a form of protectionism and its inevitable. We should stop being naive and take care of our own house. The only ones who win if we don't are the multinational corporations who don't care where they get their hand out.

good articles for a slow news day: http://www.bit.ly/12NCJR/12NCJR>Econ & Finance Articles Updated Daily

[clearwaterclearmind]

hey, isn't this kind of similar to the plot of the harrison ford version of "the fugitive"?

we'd best be vigilant in watching out for framed pharmaceutical whistleblowers.

[SantaFeStars]

It seems like every day a new drug is created for a problem that doesn't exist!

[BlackWidowPilot]

"I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our
moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our
government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of
our country."

--Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 1816.

"Capitalism has no place in medicine." G.B. Shaw

And neither does corporatism, which is IMHO just tyranny imposed upon We The People by other means.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[chameleon59]

Several years ago, my son was prescribed neurontin, Zyprexa and paxil for "depression" which was never actually diagnosed but speculated upon by an overworked social worker in an emergency mental health center - based on her observing the interaction between him and me over the course of a four hour wait in the waiting room. The trigger - a practical joke at school that the teacher and school counselor interpreted as a "possible suicide note". Never mind that the counselor who saw him weekly completely disagreed with the diagnosis. The Paxil sent him into rapid cycling mood swings and dangerously impulsive behaviors. The neurontin resulted in depression, and the Zyprexa put 40 pounds on him in less than two months. My attempts to take him off those meds was met with threats of being charged with medical neglect - but when I got him off all three meds, I ended up with a happy, healthy teenage boy who lost 40 pounds in six weeks - and is diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome. Off label prescriptions are beyond irresponsible - they're dangerous, but doctors do it all the time based on information handed out by the pharmaceutical companies that profit from increased use of their drugs.

[NevaforLeadership]

Oh my Chameleon59, what a horror story!

I am so pleased you managed to get to the bottom of your son's problems and save him from the damage prescribed by incompetent medical personnel and social workers no less!!

Unfortunately, I believe your story is not unique. Thank goodness you had the assertiveness to do the right thing.

[8journey8]

I am so glad you were able to address the problem yourself, and make changes for your boy. You're a good parent, and he's lucky that you are paying attention, and that you're on his side and willing to fight for him. Good for you.

[maggiemay]

the findings on cholesterol medications show its doesn't help lower or prevent blood blockage.

so they have advise doctors to lower the cholesterol to 80.

the medication is of no use. why keep giving it to victims of bad medicine

and i tell these doctors of these findings and why. stop taking cholesterol meds very costly and I am not going to be one of their labs testing victims.

[NevaforLeadership]

Hi Maggiemay,

You might want to do some research on too many refined carbohydrates and high cholesterol.

Eat really healthy food: lean protein, including low-fat dairy products, fish and seafood, fruits and vegetables -- cut out the other carbohydrates and sugar, including breakfast cereals, sugared drinks, refined bread, all bread if you are over weight), pasta, rice, potatoes, muffins and all baked goods.

You won't believe how quickly your body will change and how quickly you will start feeling incredible -- with a high likelihood of normal cholesterol levels.