Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAs expected, Eli Lilly and Co. said this morning it has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle criminal and civil charges related to its marketing of antipsychotic drug Zyprexa.
Indianapolis-based Lilly set aside the money in October in anticipation of a settlement.
As part of the criminal investigation, Lilly will plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, admitting that it promoted Zyprexa in elderly populations as treatment for dementia even though the drug is not approved for such uses.
$615 million of the settlement is tied to the criminal charges. The other $800 million will be used to resolve civil complaints, “even though the company disagrees with and does not admit to the civil allegations,” Lilly said in a statement. Of that total, $438 will go to the federal government and $362 million will go to states that joined the action.
The four-year-old case, being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is based on whistleblower accusations that Lilly tried to persuade doctors to prescribe Zyprexa to children and the elderly, two groups for which Zyprexa was not approved as a treatment.
The settlement is subject to approval by the federal court in Philadelphia; the company expects a hearing in the next few weeks.
Zyprexa is Lilly’s bestselling drug. In 2007, it racked up worldwide sales of $4.8 billion.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.