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Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson were sued by Pennsylvania over claims they fraudulently marketed antipsychotic drugs and owe the state for prescription costs and personal injury to patients.

Pennsylvania says that Eli Lilly hid the risks and exaggerated the benefits of its antipsychotic medication Zyprexa® while persuading physicians to prescribe it for unapproved uses. The complaint filed by Pennsylvania also stated that AstraZeneca did the same for its drug Seroquel® and Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal®.

This is the fifth claim on behalf of a state Medicaid program against Eli Lilly over Zyprexa® marketing practices, the second against Johnson & Johnson over Risperdal® and the first against AstraZeneca.

More states are considering similar lawsuits.

The defendants cost Pennsylvania's Medicaid and drug assistance for the elderly program millions of dollars for "reimbursing for non-medically accepted indications and non- medically necessary uses of Zyprexa, Seroquel and Risperdal," as well as "significant sums of money for the care and treatment" of patients injured by the drugs, Pennsylvania said in a complaint.

The lawsuit was brought by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's office of general counsel, which hired private lawyers to help pursue the claims.

The drugs are approved for use for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The companies marketed them for unapproved uses, including mood and behavior disorders, attention-deficit disorder and dementia, Pennsylvania said.

If you or a loved one were injured through the use of a pharmaceutical product please use the form on the left for a free case review by our law firm.

Reference:

"Pa. sues Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca over antipsychotic medications", Bloomberg News, Margaret Cronin Fisk, March 2007.