Illegal Marketing, Lilly Pharmacuetical Lawsuit

As most of you know, I get this stuff usually from Yahoo, so I have to give credit here.... they are my home page ;-) and I love em for all the up to date info flying through...

Now, are you aware that pharmacuetical companies illegally market drugs. I am. But I wasn't always. If you want to know more about this topic, buy and READ the book The Turth About the Drug Companies, (How they decieve us and what to do about it) by marcia Angell, MD, former editor in chief of the "New England Journal of Medicine", the go to medical magazine for all US medical doctors. I have written about her before. Here is the article from yahoo news:

Lilly settles Zyprexa suit for $1.42 billion


INDIANAPOLIS – Eli Lilly & Co. said Thursday it pleaded guilty to a charge that it illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa for an unapproved use, and will pay $1.42 billion to settle civil suits and end the criminal investigation.

The Indianapolis-based company said it will pay $800 million to settle civil suits, including $438 million to the federal government and $362 million to states. It will pay $615 million to resolve the criminal probe, and plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for promoting Zyprexa as a dementia treatment.

The company did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the civil cases.

The misdemeanor plea resolves charges related to Lilly's marketing of Zyprexa between September 1999 and March 2001. It states that Lilly marketed the drug for the treatment of dementia, including Alzheimer's-related dementia, even though the drug is not approved for that use.

Zyprexa is approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Doctors are allowed to prescribe it for other uses, but Lilly is not allowed to market the drug for any other illnesses because it lacks Food and Drug Administration approval.

The case began in 2004 and was led by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Office of Consumer Litigation of the Department of Justice.

Laurie Magid, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said they hoped cases like this put an end to a pharmaceutical practice known as "off-label" marketing.

"The company made hundreds of millions of dollars by trying to convince health care providers that Zyprexa was safe for unapproved uses," Magid said, noting that they hold the drugmaker "responsible for putting thousands and thousands of patients at risk." She added that off-label marketing circumvents "the very process put in place to protect the public."

Lilly also said it agreed to resolve civil investigations brought by the Medicaid fraud-control units of the states involved in the settlement. The states were looking into rebate agreements between Lilly and pharmacy benefits managers related to Zyprexa and other drugs.

A company spokesman said about 30 states are involved.

Zyprexa was approved in 1996 and has been Lilly's top seller for years. It brought in $3.5 billion in revenue through the first three quarters of 2008, or roughly $1.5 billion more than the company's second-best seller, the antidepressant Cymbalta.

But the company has spent roughly $1.2 billion to resolve 32,000 claims related to Zyprexa product liability. About 125 cases are still pending.

For instance, a group of insurance companies, unions and others are suing Lilly for billions, saying it broke marketing laws and overcharged for the drug.

Lilly in October said it expected to pay the additional $1.42 billion to end the investigations. It set aside that amount, or $1.29 per share, in the third quarter, which resulted in the company's first quarterly loss in three years.

Earlier the same month, Lilly agreed to pay $62 million to 32 states and the District of Columbia to resolve accusations it marketed Zyprexa for pediatric care, for use in high doses and for dementia.

Lilly shares fell 66 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $36.81 in Thursday morning trading.

___

Associated Press writer Maryclaire Dale contributed to this report from Philadelpia.

"Me Too" Drugs, Heartburn and Papaya

Many people use Papaya for heartburn, including myself. we thereby completely bypass any prescription pharmaceutical, as well as the incurred cost or side effects. Nexium is the 'me-too' heartburn drug of Prilosec. It is essentially Prilosec with the inactive ingredients removed, given a new patent, and marketed as if it were better. Studies were slanted to make it look better by giving patients in the study higher doses of Nexium than that of Prilosec. Let's see, what do you and I call this? We call it lying.

We are covering THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES, by Marcia Angell, MD., the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.

What are "me-too" drugs? Chapter five, p 75

..."In the five years 1998 through 2002, 415 new drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), of which only 14 percent were truly innovative. A further 9 percent were old drugs that had been changed in some way that made them, in the FDA's view, significant improvements. And the remaining 77 percent? Incredibly, they were all me-too drugs--classified by the agency as being no better than drugs already on the market to treat the same condition. some of these had different chemical compositions from the originals; most did not. but none were considered improvements. So there you have it. Seventy-seven percent of the pharmaceutical industry's output consisted of leftovers."

p. 76 third paragraph

"Sometimes it's simply a matter of extending the life of a blockbuster drug that is going off patent by making a virtually identical drug and shifting users to the new one. The drug just has to be different enough to qualify for a new patent."

Dr. Angell goes on to say this is exactly what happened when the patent forPrilosec (heartburn), was about to expire and was replaced with Nexium. P. 77 Paragraph two. The active part of the Prilosec molecule, omeprazole, was taken out, patented, and renamed Nexium. "(it wouldn't have done to call it "Half-o-Prilosec" but that is what it was)" and promote it as an improvement over Prilosec, just in time to switch people over before the Prilosec patent expired."

She adds, p. 78, paragraph 3, that in studies between Nexium and Prilosec, that AstraZeneca used higher doses of Nexium than of Prilosec to achieve results slanted to look like Nexium was better than Prilosec.

Instead of any of these, you could try chewing papaya tablets before dinner, or even once you get heartburn. I have a nurse friend who first told me about this. She has been doing this for years. Now, the head of a nursing home wing, when her employees complain about heartburn (trying to get out of work and be sent home) she tells them to chew up a handful of papaya tablets. She says, next thing you know, they are out buying some papaya tablets as well.

Many people use papaya tablets, or other digestive enzymes, for heartburn. I rarely get heartburn, but on the few occasions I do, I use it as well. You can buy a little roll to keep in your purse or pocket, for around $2, and just give it a try. I bet it works for you too ;-)

Joke of the Day

My husband and I seriously saw this in the want ads, while we were out driving around looking for garage sales today. The ad was for office space, and it listed all the amenities included in the rental price. It started with 'Live Receptionist"....versus what, a dead one?

More Truth about Drugs

From Dr. Marcia Angell's book, THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES,what have we learned so far? We have learned that medical doctors, the very ones we entrust our lives and the lives of our children to, are taught about pharmaceuticals in school and out of school, by drug companies. We have learned that what is being taught is often not based on science but on flimsy studies. We have learned that what is being marketed as education, to our beloved, respected, medical doctors, is only what the pharmaceutical company needs them to know in order to turn a greater profit.

We have found, to keep turning a profit, as older (and effective) drugs are coming closer to expiration of their patent (to go to generic), drug companies have to create new ones to warrant a new patent. Then these are marketed as the newest and greatest to your medical doctors.

And we are being told this by one of the most reputable sources we could ever have--a woman who, as editor in chief for the New England Journal of Medicine--saw it all become worse and worse before her eyes.

According to Dr. Angell, the newest, is often not the greatest at all.

For me, the point is less that it is costing you more money (direct and through raised insurance premiums), the point is that these newest and best, often aren't that at all.

Chapter Six, p. 96

In an independent study done on a variety of hypertensive drugs (high blood pressure) with 42,000 people at more than six hundred clinics, this is what was found:

"To nearly everyones' surprise, the old-time diuretic turned out to be just as good for lowering blood pressure, and actually better for preventing some of the devastating complications of high blood pressure--mainly heart disease and strokes." ".....less likely to develop heart failure than those treated with Norvasc. ......less likely to develop heart failure, strokes and a number of other complications than those treated with the ACE inhibitor. As for Cardura, that part of the trial had to be stopped early, because so many people who received that drug developed heart failure. The director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute was unequivocal in his conclusion: "ALLHAT (the study) shows that diuretics are the best choice to treat hypertension, both medically and economically."

Considering I was on an ace inhibitor and had heart failure, well.... you can tell this matters to me.

Of course, I find myself thinking, well, heck why doesn't someone try doing what I did: drink at least half your body eight in water EVERY day, increase magnesium (to counter high calcium in your cells) and see how your blood pressure changes, increase potassium (to counter high salt in your cells) and see how your blood pressure changes, try some biofeedback and some acupuncture.

Why not? Well, number one, it doesn't make money for the pharmaceutical companies so your medical doctor isn't going to find out about it, is he (or she)?

Number two, the majority of the world with high blood pressure doesn't have Dr. Witter, a holistic chiropractor, http://www.thewittercenter.com/, or Dr. Manso, a holistic medical doctor, http://www.drmanso.com/ telling them these things work. This is why I keep telling you to get holistic every bodies: chiropractic, medical, pharmacy, acupuncture. They have access to information and tools that your traditional medical doctor simply does not.

I am not a doctor, so find doctors who have the information you need and who can diagnose and recommend to you what to do. Even a pharmacist can't tell you to go off your pharmaceutical or to prescribe on for you. Only a medical doctor can do that.

If you are thinking of going off your heart, blood pressure, pharmaceuticals without telling your medical doctor--I had this quite a lot working at the health food store--why not call the pharmacists at Peoples pharmacy in Austin FIRST--ask them your options and ask them to consult with your current medical doctor NOW, while you look for someone holistic. http://www.peoplesrx.com/

I know what it is like to have horrible side effects from an ace inhibitor that my cardiologist told me weren't side effects at all, yet totally went away when I went off the medications! I know where you are at. Luckily I had Dr. Witter and Dr. Manso.

Don't play Russian Roulette with your heart and your body! That is what pharmacists are for! Consulting with you, consulting with medical doctors. This is what they do!

I have worked for medical doctors. Doctors call pharmacists routinely to find out more about a certain pharmaceutical they know little about. Today there are so many pharmaceuticals (new patents, more money), doctors have to call pharmacists, when the pharmaceutical is not in their regular field (according to THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES, no one has marketed to them about it).

Just remember, Peoples Pharmacy just also happens to have a vast amount of knowledge about natural ways to heal as well, including supplements and herbals. In other words, I am trying to tell you to call Peoples ASAP before going off your pharmaceutical without telling your current medical doctor and before finding a holistic medical doctor.

Recipe of the Day

Jicima (Mexican Potato, you can find in season at most food markets)

Peel and Slice. Place in a bowl. Sprinkle lime juice, salt, and good, fresh chili powder (all to taste) over it. Toss. Serve. Great snack food for anyone, kids included ;-)