Elder Law

Illinois Lawsuit Affecting Seniors Ends with $68.5 Million Settlement

By Levin & Perconti

The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend an agreement reached with the large pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca following a multistate drug lawsuit.

The Illinois drug lawsuit stemmed from apparent ?off label? use of the drug Seroquel. The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in adults. However, the drug has been used to treat children and the elderly with those conditions as well as adults with a variety of ailments, anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer?s and dementia.

Doctors are allowed to prescribe medications for ?off label? purposes, but drug companies are prohibited from marketing their products for those non-approved uses. However, the marketing issue was not the only problem. The Illinois attorney general, along with investigators from other states, discovered that the large pharmaceutical giant was failing to disclose the drugs? potential side effects?hyperglycemia, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and weight gain.

The pair of problems placed many seniors at risk of suffering unknown complications from the drug.

According to the settlement reached by the company with 35 states, AstraZeneca agreed to pay $68.5 million. They will also change their marketing format and properly disclose side-effects so as not to violate the law. This latest agreement comes on the heels of a similar settlement reached by the company with the U.S. government. Last April, AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million for its ?off label? marketing of Seroquel.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on March 13, 2011 (boomark / email).